Shell Asset Management Co. Sells 6,189 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Shell Asset Management Co. decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 75.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,189 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.06.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $1.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $245.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 161,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,134,687. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $248.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $239.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.20. The company has a market cap of $70.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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 net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

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

About Ecolab

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.