Investment House LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Investment House LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up approximately 0.9% of Investment House LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Ecolab by 131.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 180,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,184,000 after purchasing an additional 102,687 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 56,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $253.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $253.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.