Moors & Cabot Inc. Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Invesco LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.87 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $252.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.97.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.