HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Has $310,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 460,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,835,000 after purchasing an additional 129,729 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

ECL opened at $250.87 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $252.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ECL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.