Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Invests $1.28 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $243.27. The company had a trading volume of 837,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,168,537. The stock has a market cap of $69.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.90, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.64. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $245.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

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.