Perpetual Ltd Trims Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Perpetual Ltd lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,558 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,899 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $831,744,000 after buying an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1%

ECL stock opened at $263.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a PE ratio of 35.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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