McCollum Christoferson Group LLC Has $13.47 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

McCollum Christoferson Group LLC lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 57,476 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 4.0% of McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $725,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 146,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,500,000 after acquiring an additional 27,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.7% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $250.79 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $254.48 and its 200-day moving average is $250.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

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.