Sowell Financial Services LLC Makes New $765,000 Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Ecolab by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $261.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,397,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,468. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $254.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.03. 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 fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.