First Manhattan CO. LLC. Purchases 293 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 56,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,214,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,058,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $248,121,000 after buying an additional 54,246 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,704,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $399,295,000 after buying an additional 108,526 shares during the last quarter. EHP Funds Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $937,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,262,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $252.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $71.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a PEG 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. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.55.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business 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%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.47.

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.