Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE's holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $725,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 23.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 146,850 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,500,000 after acquiring an additional 27,830 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.88.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Ecolab
Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab
In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Ecolab Price Performance
Ecolab stock traded down $3.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $249.29. 775,157 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,122,159. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business's 50-day moving average is $256.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.18. 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 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.
About Ecolab
(
Free Report)
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.
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