Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Has $35.21 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 61.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 138,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 223,283 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $35,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $501,000. World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 17,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,068,000 after buying an additional 4,475 shares during the period. Finally, Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $260.80 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $274.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ECL shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.71.

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.