Walnut Level Capital LLC Invests $1.76 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Walnut Level Capital LLC bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,523 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,763,000. Ecolab comprises 0.7% of Walnut Level Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded down $3.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $249.29. The stock had a trading volume of 775,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,122,159. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $256.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.18. The company has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 1.04%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction 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 approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $286.88.

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.