Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $10.01 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,467 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,445 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $267.29. 606,734 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,167,356. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $249.31 and a 200 day moving average of $249.18. The stock has a market cap of $75.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors 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 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Barclays decreased their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.