Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,000. Ecolab accounts for about 0.9% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 11.9% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Ecolab by 7.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 2.6% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four 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.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

About Ecolab

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.