Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Takes $289,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,214 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,617 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,822,000 after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 104,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,467,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. Finally, BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the 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 acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $274.32. The company had a trading volume of 513,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,182,279. 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 has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $261.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $274.17.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.