DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 68,046 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 282,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 68,046 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.10% of Ecolab worth $71,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $262.61. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.