Neuberger Berman Group LLC Sells 5,626 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Neuberger Berman Group LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 2.8%, selling 5,626 shares, and now owns approximately 0.07% of the company valued at $49.82 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Tokio Marine Asset Management and Caitong International Asset Management, have recently increased their holdings in Ecolab, reflecting significant interest as 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional entities.
• Ecolab's recent earnings report indicated a miss on earnings per share, reporting $1.89 against the expected $1.90, while revenue matched expectations at $4.03 billion during the quarter.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 196,520 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,626 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned about 0.07% of Ecolab worth $49,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after buying an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $280.85. 1,250,289 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,181,101. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $281.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $268.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $258.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.65 billion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $295.00 price objective (up from $293.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently 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.