Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) is Leverty Financial Group LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Leverty Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,638 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 0.9% of Leverty Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Leverty Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $80,564,000. Eastern Bank grew its stake in Ecolab by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,519,000 after purchasing an additional 143,497 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Ecolab by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,380,000 after buying an additional 129,738 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ECL opened at $249.97 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.49 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.79. The company has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 425,430 shares of company stock valued at $104,201,556 in the last 90 days. Company 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.