Empower Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 577,125 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,648 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.20% of Ecolab worth $135,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $1.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $267.43. 936,189 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,241,839. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $244.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.19. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.41 and a 12 month high of $268.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.97%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.