Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires 1,177 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,195 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $77,005,000 after buying an additional 16,747 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $276,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,883 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $27,035,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $3.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $251.44. 1,290,904 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,219. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Company 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.