California State Teachers Retirement System Has $63.18 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 437,481 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,040 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.15% of Ecolab worth $63,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,054,613 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,185,126,000 after buying an additional 149,219 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,544,497 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,780,863,000 after acquiring an additional 146,785 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its position in Ecolab by 4.4% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 3,747,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $537,746,000 after purchasing an additional 157,091 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,079,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,784,000 after purchasing an additional 32,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% during the third quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 2,930,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $423,188,000 after purchasing an additional 102,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 4,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.95, for a total value of $717,631.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,027,423.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ECL opened at $158.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.56, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.04 and a 52 week high of $185.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $155.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 7.69%. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Ecolab from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Ecolab from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $140.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $158.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.13.

About Ecolab

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Ecolab, Inc engages in the provision of products and services in the field of water, hygiene, and energy. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Energy & Life Science, and Other. The Global Industrial segment consists of the water, food and beverage, paper, and downstream operating segments.