Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 302 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ECL opened at $262.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $242.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $246.08. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.71 and a 12 month high of $267.56. The company has a market capitalization of $74.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reduced 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. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.