13,900 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,257,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $1,262,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 165,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,771,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $255.14 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $248.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $247.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.