Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Has $1.90 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 469 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after acquiring an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $80,564,000. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in Ecolab by 750.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,519,000 after purchasing an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in 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. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.97. The firm has a market cap of $73.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.99 and a 52-week high of $267.56.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

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.