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 position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,577 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,478,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Barclays PLC increased its position in Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 99.8% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 82,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $19,423,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $2.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $263.01. 341,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,166,084. The business's 50-day moving average is $247.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.34. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

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.