Farringdon Capital Ltd. Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,457 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $810,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $5.08 on Tuesday, reaching $236.59. 280,498 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,406,115. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $252.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $248.43. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.19 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.33.

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.