Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $266.44 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $249.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $75.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.