Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. Has $11.34 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for 1.8% of Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. UBS Group raised 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. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.07 on Wednesday, hitting $252.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,192,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,052,311. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $255.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.