Martel Wealth Advisors Inc Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Martel Wealth Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $237.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.29 billion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.49 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.62.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

About Ecolab

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.