Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 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 ECL opened at $253.59 on Friday. 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 one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $262.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $251.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.60. The company has a market capitalization of $72.42 billion, a PE ratio of 46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

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 company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.