Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Transform Wealth LLC

Transform Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 37.9% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after buying an additional 2,951 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Ecolab by 426.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 18,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,210,000 after purchasing an additional 15,347 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Ecolab by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 29,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,002,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $323,000. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth $738,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $239.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 220,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,164,097. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $232.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.82. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $245.93. The firm has a market cap of $68.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% 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.