Axa S.A. Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Axa S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 468,718 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 16,027 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A. owned approximately 0.17% of Ecolab worth $109,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $255.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.88.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab 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.

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