Gradient Investments LLC Has $16.19 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 69,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted 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 worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $242.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last three months. Company 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.