QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 12,672 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,743 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 12,672 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $266.13 on Tuesday. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $253.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.28. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $75.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab 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.

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