Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 5,900 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $23,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $2.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $253.49. 621,095 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,079,170. 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 $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.96, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $251.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.60.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.