Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Elk River Wealth Management LLC

Elk River Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Ecolab by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,267,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 144.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,268,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ECL. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE ECL opened at $266.07 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $213.94 and a one year high of $268.00. 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 has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.