Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Independent Advisor Alliance

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,383 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $420,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 11.9% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in Ecolab by 6.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 4,323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 20.8% during the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $250.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $252.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab 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.