6,318 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Acquired by Wahed Invest LLC

Wahed Invest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,318 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,480,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Ecolab by 797.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0 %

Ecolab stock traded up $2.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $255.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,099,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,681. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, research 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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 lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.