Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 152.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,451 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 37,712 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 98.6% in the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $79,980,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $1.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $274.32. The stock had a trading volume of 513,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,182,279. The firm has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $261.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.47.

About Ecolab

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.