Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Sells 2,164 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 39.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,372 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,164 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings in Ecolab were worth $855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $1.21 on Thursday, hitting $260.14. 1,150,565 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,172,157. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $254.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

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.