Osprey Private Wealth LLC Increases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Osprey Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 30.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,650 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,645 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 2.4% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Osprey Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,195 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 5,575 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Ecolab by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,973 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,400,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $7.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $263.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,221,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,174,709. The company has a market capitalization of $74.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $251.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 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 $273.69.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio 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.