Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 14.5% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,383,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 11.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 16.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents 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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $250.79 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.03.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.