Allworth Financial LP Buys 1,136 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 64.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP's holdings in Ecolab were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Invesco LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake 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 period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded down $2.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $264.47. 970,261 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.34. 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 capitalization of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, 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. 0.04% of the stock is owned by 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.