Quantinno Capital Management LP Has $10.72 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,748 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 7,252 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,438,000 after buying an additional 165,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $3.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $258.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,118,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,157. The firm has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.59.

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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

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.