Inceptionr LLC Takes $1.46 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 6,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,463,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $61,073,000. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,204,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,989,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 161.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after buying an additional 11,586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $269.87 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.