Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Holdings Boosted by Clearstead Trust LLC

Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17,545.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,941 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,073,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,204,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 460,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,835,000 after buying an additional 129,729 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $252.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.