Swedbank AB Has $386.05 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Swedbank AB reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,511,950 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 114,500 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned 0.53% of Ecolab worth $386,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $2.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $258.89. 389,917 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,090,507. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.05. The company has a market cap of $73.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $261.54. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.07.

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.