Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,913 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 570 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,885,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,430,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,200 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,479,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,698,604,000 after purchasing an additional 191,446 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,075,692 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $953,262,000 after acquiring an additional 97,763 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 3,879,730 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $910,146,000 after acquiring an additional 248,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,444,028 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $807,934,000 after acquiring an additional 47,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Argus lowered their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Ecolab from $200.00 to $181.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 27th. Credit Suisse Group raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $191.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Ecolab to $198.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $194.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $174.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $143.82 and a twelve month high of $238.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.44. The firm has a market cap of $49.86 billion, a PE ratio of 45.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.02.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 20th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 19th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 53.13%.

Ecolab Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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.

Featured Articles

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Ecolab (ECL)
• Which Semiconductor Stocks Are Ready For Big Price Moves?
• Miners Advance On Earnings Despite Broader Economic Challenges
• Lowe's Stands Out Amid Q2 Retail Reports
• Agilent Technologies Proves Its Worth VS Illumina
• Target's Results Cap Upside Potential For Retail Stocks

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ECL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating).

Receive News & Ratings for Ecolab Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ecolab and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.