Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 22.1%, acquiring an additional 100,754 shares, bringing its total holdings to 556,178 shares worth approximately $141 million.
• Ecolab reported $1.50 earnings per share for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, while its revenue decreased by 1.5% compared to the same period last year.
• The company's board member, David Maclennan, recently purchased 500 shares of Ecolab, increasing his position by 2.64%, demonstrating insider confidence in the stock.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 22.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 556,178 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 100,754 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.20% of Ecolab worth $141,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,036,485,000 after buying an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after buying an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Ecolab by 19.7% during 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $701,438,000 after purchasing an additional 165,949 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $289.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $5.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $264.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 735,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,983. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $266.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.04. The company has a market cap of $75.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

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.