Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Acquires 120 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 7.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.5% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 2,522 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 13.8% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $247.39 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $200.50 and a 12 month high of $262.61. 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 stock has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $241.86 and a 200 day moving average of $245.96.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

Ecolab 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.