Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 301,591 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,747 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Ecolab worth $77,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 12,730 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,030,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,887 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $2.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $238.29. 2,343,215 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,098,768. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $67.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $249.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $193.46 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is an increase from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ECL. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.60.

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.