Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 188,338 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its position in Ecolab by 19.8%, selling 188,338 shares, and now owns approximately 0.27% of the company valued at about $193.2 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC, have made significant increases to their stakes in Ecolab, highlighting strong interest from hedge funds.
• Ecolab's stock has a market cap of $76.57 billion and recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.50 EPS, matching analyst expectations.

Baillie Gifford & Co. lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 19.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 762,060 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 188,338 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.27% of Ecolab worth $193,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the first quarter. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. now owns 55,732 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,839 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 10.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $1,592,000. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 182.8% in the first quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,362 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,637 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 3.9%

NYSE ECL traded down $10.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $259.33. 1,177,117 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,324,489. The business's 50-day moving average is $266.73 and its 200-day moving average is $256.02. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.