Apollon Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 6.2 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $73.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.99 and a twelve month high of $267.56. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

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.