R Squared Ltd Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• R Squared Ltd has significantly reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 62.5%, owning now only 1,270 shares worth approximately $322,000.
• Multiple institutional investors have adjusted their holdings in Ecolab, with OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp increasing its position by 6.7% during the first quarter.
• Research firms have upgraded Ecolab's stock ratings, with Robert W. Baird setting a new target price of $300 after raising the rating from "neutral" to "outperform."

R Squared Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 62.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,270 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,121 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd's holdings in Ecolab were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 154,806 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $39,154,000 after buying an additional 9,764 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA lifted its stake 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. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the first quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 20,659 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,237,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 55.1% in the first quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.7% in the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 32,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,341,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased 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 owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ECL traded up $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $265.51. 154,913 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,319,697. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The stock has a market cap of $75.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business 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, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.71.

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.