Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 89.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 77.2% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 1,394 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 60.4% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 49,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,731,000 after purchasing an additional 18,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $8,663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

ECL stock opened at $242.62 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $68.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $241.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.62.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.