J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $2.04 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $256.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $72.97 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $157.59 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $252.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.28.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.