Cullinan Associates Inc. Has $5.33 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,011 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,903 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $4.84 on Monday, hitting $266.07. 1,089,183 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,165,170. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $75.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $255.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.62.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.