Global X Japan Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 23.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 472 shares during the quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $634,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during 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 purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $260.14 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.42. The company has a market cap of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 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.