Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 1,200 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the second quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $250.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $243.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $254.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.