Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by ORG Wealth Partners LLC

ORG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:ECL opened at $260.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.42.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) 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 business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.