Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Abound Wealth Management

Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 212.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 54,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,804,000 after buying an additional 3,055 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,035,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $2.95 during trading on Monday, hitting $232.67. 736,346 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,025,203. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $65.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.65. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.49 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.