Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Given New $313.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $313.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

ECL opened at $262.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $74.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $212.71 and a 52 week high of $267.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $242.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.08. 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 (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%. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the third 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. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.