Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Has $1.47 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 2.3% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 100.1% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 19,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Seaport Res Ptn cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $221.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,242,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,060,937. The company has a 50 day moving average of $223.89 and a 200 day moving average of $200.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $63.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

About Ecolab

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.