V Square Quantitative Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $390,687,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after purchasing an additional 258,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 136.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,467,000 after purchasing an additional 206,973 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $2.79 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $259.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 141,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,221. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $249.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $261.54.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

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.