Aquatic Capital Management LLC Has $7.49 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 168.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,962 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,042 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. Barclays lowered their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

ECL traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $252.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,770,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,210. The business's fifty day moving average price is $249.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $71.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is 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.