Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Buys 100 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company 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 boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $252.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $254.86 and a 200-day moving average of $250.10. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.