Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,038 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,399 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

ECL stock traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $265.61. 2,497,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,176,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average of $248.17 and a 200-day moving average of $248.65.

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 business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. 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.