Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 0.7% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,240,000 after purchasing an additional 305,039 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 91,547 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 155,151 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $365,420,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 117.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after buying an additional 903,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $236.23. 134,293 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,163,857. The company has a market cap of $67.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.84, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $245.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $234.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ecolab

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.