Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Acquires 2,488 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 265.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,424 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,488 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Mizuho dropped their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.7%

ECL traded up $4.32 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $265.42. The stock had a trading volume of 894,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,344. The stock's 50 day moving average is $247.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $75.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.