Hickory Asset Management Inc. Invests $263,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,123 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $10,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Probity Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $266.07. 848,878 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,251,393. The stock has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $213.94 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $244.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.19.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

About Ecolab

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.