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Highview Capital Management LLC DE Lowers Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab logo with Basic Materials background

Highview Capital Management LLC DE cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 31.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,963 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,789 shares during the quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after acquiring an additional 558,947 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.47.

View Our Latest Analysis on Ecolab

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $271.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $77.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Ecolab Company Profile

(Free Report)

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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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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