L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Purchases 205 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises approximately 1.1% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after purchasing an additional 258,971 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $2.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $253.49. The stock had a trading volume of 621,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 784,584. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $252.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.90.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 38.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.