Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 100 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,301,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $499,000. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in Ecolab by 74.4% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,579 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

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

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $253.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $252.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.03.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.