Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,446 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 588 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.0% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. &PARTNERS raised its position in Ecolab by 538.8% in the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 6,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 5,318 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 22,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,464,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 186.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $1.00 on Friday, hitting $247.23. The stock had a trading volume of 530,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,401. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $240.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.78. The stock has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $249.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab 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.