Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Has $1.03 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 5,078 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $521,000. Finally, Carlson Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $604,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $246.81. 385,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,140,146. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $247.40. The company has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.06.

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.