Welch & Forbes LLC Buys 3,034 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Welch & Forbes LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 471,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises 1.6% of Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Ecolab worth $119,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 15.6% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 104,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,405,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 19.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,467,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,257,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 7.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,813,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Five 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

Ecolab stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $268.49. 295,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,180,865. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $274.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day moving average price is $264.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $253.90. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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