Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Kintegral Advisory LLC

Kintegral Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,227 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,468 shares during the quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE ECL traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $274.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 513,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,607. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $274.17. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $261.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.15. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $77.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

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.