McCollum Christoferson Group LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,768 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises approximately 2.0% of McCollum Christoferson Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $337,443,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,885,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,430,288,000 after buying an additional 1,403,200 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $223,516,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $153,507,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 316.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,107,667 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $259,848,000 after acquiring an additional 841,377 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $195.00 to $180.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 27th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, July 15th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $190.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $198.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $194.12.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.2 %

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 19th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III acquired 149,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $171.47 per share, with a total value of $25,581,609.30. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 30,834,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,287,233,553.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael C. Mccormick sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total transaction of $503,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,396,063.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III acquired 149,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $171.47 per share, for a total transaction of $25,581,609.30. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 30,834,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,287,233,553.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ecolab

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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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