Everhart Financial Group Inc. Has $338,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,419 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,965,000 after acquiring an additional 155,151 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $390,687,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.00 on Friday, hitting $247.23. 538,404 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,143,449. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $249.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average of $240.88 and a 200 day moving average of $231.14. The stock has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.00.

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.