Morningstar Investment Services LLC Has $1.31 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 59.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,174 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,671 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 15.6% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 19,431 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,257,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $268.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,432,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,188,315. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $274.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $76.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $264.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.28.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.