Angeles Investment Advisors LLC Has $662,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $250.54 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $243.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $253.54. The firm has a market cap of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.