Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 84.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,194,000. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 46.8% during the first quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 30,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,953,000 after purchasing an additional 9,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE ECL opened at $261.46 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $250.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.91. The stock has a market cap of $74.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.42, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.