HB Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 22.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 750.9% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,519,000 after purchasing an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $277.47.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ECL traded up $3.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $240.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,267,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,231,164. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company's fifty day moving average price is $241.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.63. The stock has a market cap of $68.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

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.