GSA Capital Partners LLP Sells 5,782 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

GSA Capital Partners LLP reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 73.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,104 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,782 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Ecolab were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $290.71.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.2%

ECL opened at $264.06 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average is $266.82 and its 200-day moving average is $256.92. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $274.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

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.

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