MJP Associates Inc. ADV Buys 364 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 25.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $749,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.56.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $243.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.76. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $245.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.