Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $8.24 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,596 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,731 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

Ecolab stock traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $250.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,428,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,087,249. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $250.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $193.46 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $70.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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 lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.87.

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.