Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 49.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,459 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,449 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.5% in 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 in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,012,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 4,145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

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 bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE ECL traded up $0.80 on Friday, hitting $261.02. The stock had a trading volume of 2,397,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,475. The business's fifty day moving average price is $255.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $74.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.