Cwm LLC Has $3.32 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CWM LLC grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,090 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the quarter. CWM LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 18,057 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,578,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $139,000. High Note Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 20.5% during the 1st quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 74,789 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $18,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,490 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

ECL traded down $0.47 on Friday, reaching $268.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,432,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,666. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $264.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $76.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.33.

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.