Vision Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,250 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Vision Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,250 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $267.09. 966,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,182,298. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $263.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.28. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $274.17.

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 for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $287.00.

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.