HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $944,000 Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 49.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,027 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded down $12.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $237.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,594,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,019. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company's 50-day moving average is $256.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.15.

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Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $289.33.

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.