Kestra Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 168 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $264.47 on Friday. 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 firm 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $244.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.66. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Ecolab 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.