Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 528 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.8% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $228,000. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.2% during the first quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 8,925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.1% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 12,271 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,833,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

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 transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $261.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $250.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.83. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.80.

About Ecolab

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.