Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,625 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,000. Ecolab comprises about 0.9% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.