Golden State Wealth Management LLC Invests $47,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $330,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,497,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,267,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.3% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 5,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 6.2 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.99 and a twelve month high of $267.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $241.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.97.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.