Carr Financial Group Corp Sells 1,507 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Carr Financial Group Corp cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 62.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 897 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,507 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $260.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $254.70 and a 200-day moving average of $250.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays reduced 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.13.

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.

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