Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,154 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,399 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 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, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.32 on Friday, hitting $265.61. 2,497,876 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,171,549. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $248.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.13.

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.