Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Has $1.32 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ECL opened at $249.05 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $256.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.12, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $246.24 and a 200-day moving average of $238.01.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ECL. UBS Group cut their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.