Congress Asset Management Co. Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,883 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 0.9% of Congress Asset Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.18% of Ecolab worth $126,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $267.29 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $249.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $75.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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