Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $135.23 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 577,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 11,648 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $135,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

ECL opened at $264.99 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $213.94 and a twelve month high of $268.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $242.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the 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 owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.