SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Purchases 142 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Buffington Mohr McNeal grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.7% during the first quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 31,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,334,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,310,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.9% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $914,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James raised their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.56.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $235.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $234.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $245.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Ecolab 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.