David Maclennan Buys 400 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Ecolab stock opened at $267.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $244.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.34. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.41 and a 52 week high of $268.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.33.

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.