Mariner LLC Sells 1,468 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mariner LLC decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 66,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,468 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $231,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 15,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Crux Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Petros Family Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $240.00 target price (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $236.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $253.83 and a 200 day moving average of $248.84. The company has a market cap of $67.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.01, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.