651 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $365,420,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 117.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after purchasing an additional 903,307 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19,062.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,261,000 after purchasing an additional 552,992 shares in the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,178,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,875,434,000 after purchasing an additional 387,545 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $243.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $231.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.21. 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 $245.26. The company has a market cap of $69.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.16, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.56.

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.