Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 1,197 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sawyer & Company Inc decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,869 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,197 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $80,564,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $261.02 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $255.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.59. The company has a market cap of $74.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

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.

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