Woodline Partners LP Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,135 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,546,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $2.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $262.70. 784,128 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,167,811. The company has a market cap of $74.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.34.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.