DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Has $69.98 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 283,748 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.10% of Ecolab worth $69,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 30.5% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $301,000. EULAV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 22,100 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,603,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 120,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,664,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $267.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 966,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,182,298. The stock has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $253.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates 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 revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.