Northern Trust Corp Sells 20,972 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Northern Trust Corp decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,108,086 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,972 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $787,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% in the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% in the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,414,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,467,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $280.49 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $282.67. The company has a market cap of $79.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.45, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $268.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.