Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by NBC Securities Inc.

NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 159,300.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,593 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,883 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 498,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $126,480,000 after buying an additional 9,603 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 55.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 291 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE ECL traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $267.29. 606,734 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,166,885. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $249.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. 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 business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 35.33%.

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.