Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 850 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 850 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.8% of Wendell David Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,414,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,822,000 after buying an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 24,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,713,000 after buying an additional 4,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 79,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,712,000 after buying an additional 11,026 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $266.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $253.23 and its 200-day moving average is $250.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.13.

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.