Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,251 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,396 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $22,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th 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 bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 176.7% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $274.32. 513,655 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,182,279. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $261.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $252.05. The company has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

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.