Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Holdings Increased by Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the 3rd 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 own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $249.76 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $241.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $195.49 and a one year high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $70.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio 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.