IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $14.43 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,530 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in Ecolab by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,617 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,822,000 after buying an additional 5,189 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 104,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,405,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,467,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $3,257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Mizuho decreased their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Five research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.47.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of ECL stock traded down $2.78 on Tuesday, reaching $269.00. 1,335,662 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,502. The stock has a market cap of $76.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.03. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $262.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company 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 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors 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 0.97%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.