Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Sells 454 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,758 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 454 shares during the quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% 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.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8%

ECL stock opened at $249.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

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.