University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,577 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,478,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:ECL traded up $4.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $265.42. 894,821 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,169,344. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $247.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.22. The company has a market capitalization of $75.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.96, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Ecolab

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.