Angeles Investment Advisors LLC Has $662,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $662,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

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

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $250.54 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $243.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.09. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.54.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given 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 0.91%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.