Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $701,000 Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $267.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $248.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.15. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.