Congress Asset Management Co. Increases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $116,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hickory Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,000. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 127.0% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,726 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 72,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $264.99 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $268.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $242.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $246.45. The firm has a market cap of $75.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total value of $20,629,403.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.