Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 93,409 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,409 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up approximately 1.2% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 1.44% of Ecolab worth $1,036,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 19,431 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $3,257,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 884 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2%

ECL stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $269.28. 167,298 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,184,278. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $264.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $76.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $274.17.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.