Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 953 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Ecolab by 295.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,519,000 after purchasing an additional 143,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $229.95 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $65.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.