Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,560,214 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 46,579 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.55% of Ecolab worth $395,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after buying an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $79,980,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

Ecolab stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $268.58. 1,153,768 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,180,189. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $274.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $263.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released 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 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.00.

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.