4,830 Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 23.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,830 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $20,424,000. Stevens Capital Partners purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $269,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 659,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,013,000 after buying an additional 22,263 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 12.7% in the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 11,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.2% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 29,375 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,066,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ECL opened at $302.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $84.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.85. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.73%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.58.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.