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

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 437,481 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,040 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $63,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.7% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in Ecolab by 17.1% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 10,676 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $158.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $155.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.04 and a 52-week high of $185.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 7.69%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 4,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.95, for a total transaction of $717,631.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,027,423.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $158.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Ecolab Company Profile

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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.