15,728 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,685,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 10,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $591,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 497,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $116,606,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares during the period. Finally, Hickory Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $263,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $264.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $242.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.57. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $268.00. The company has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.