Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,042,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:ECL traded down $2.00 on Wednesday, hitting $260.38. 307,660 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,161,756. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $246.51 and a 200-day moving average of $247.82. The stock has a market cap of $73.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Ecolab Company 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.