Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,318 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,160 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,318 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after buying an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after buying an additional 558,947 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8%

ECL stock traded down $2.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $268.49. The stock had a trading volume of 971,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,533. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $274.17. The company has a fifty day moving average of $266.00 and a 200 day moving average of $254.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.33.

Ecolab Company 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.