Global Retirement Partners LLC Sells 2,432 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,401 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,432 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% in the 4th 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 period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded down $2.87 on Friday, hitting $264.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 970,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $268.00. The firm has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $244.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $247.34.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

About Ecolab

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.