Financial & Tax Architects LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $5,635,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% in the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8%

ECL stock traded up $2.10 on Friday, reaching $271.93. 972,465 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,147,949. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $77.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Ecolab Company 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.