S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC Has $3.61 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,252 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,664 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up 1.2% of S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.32 on Friday, hitting $265.61. The company had a trading volume of 2,497,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,549. The firm has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50-day moving average is $248.17 and its two-hundred day moving average 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. 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 issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

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.