Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $3.89 Million Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,344 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $270.52. The company had a trading volume of 309,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,578. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $76.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $266.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.17. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Five equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.33.

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.