Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 45.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,795 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,474 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,467,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $3,257,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ECL. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.33.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8%

ECL stock traded up $2.10 on Friday, hitting $271.93. 972,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,147,949. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $274.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $266.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $255.44. 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 cap of $77.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% 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.