Blair William & Co. IL Buys 26,904 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,284,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,904 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for 0.9% of Blair William & Co. IL’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $301,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,848,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 12,547 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 6,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Ecolab by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 40,888 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,503 shares during the period. Finally, Alerus Financial NA grew its stake in Ecolab by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alerus Financial NA now owns 6,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.04% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $2.63 on Tuesday, hitting $158.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,026,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,514,973. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.17. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.31 and a 1 year high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $45.25 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.82. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 8.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 17th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 53.13%.

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $171.01 per share, for a total transaction of $102,606.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,351 shares in the company, valued at $1,941,134.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben purchased 1,475 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $170.00 per share, for a total transaction of $250,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,746 shares in the company, valued at $1,146,820. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 17th. Credit Suisse Group initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.07.

Ecolab Profile (Get Rating)

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.

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