Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Ellevest Inc.

Ellevest Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 352 shares during the quarter. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $253.32 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $247.68 and a 200-day moving average of $247.72. The company has a market cap of $71.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.47.

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.