Lbp Am Sa Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Lbp Am Sa decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 58.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,635 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 40,256 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $420,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 4,323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 20.8% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

ECL opened at $250.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $252.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.