David Maclennan Purchases 650 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $233.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $234.68. The firm has a market cap of $66.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.21, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $225.01 and its 200-day moving average is $204.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after buying an additional 37,167 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% in the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,040,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.88.

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.