Toth Financial Advisory Corp Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 39,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises about 1.1% of Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $242.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $68.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.49 and a twelve month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.