Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 47.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 425,430 shares of company stock worth $104,201,556. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE ECL opened at $249.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.06, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $195.49 and a one year high of $262.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $241.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

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.