Corient Private Wealth LLC Buys 136,734 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 839,566 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 136,734 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Ecolab worth $196,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded down $2.29 on Thursday, hitting $251.83. 1,179,658 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,046,429. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $253.72 and a 200-day moving average of $250.03. 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 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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%. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.