Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Position Increased by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 79.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake 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 period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

ECL stock opened at $264.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $244.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.78. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ecolab

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.