Next Capital Management LLC Has $1.14 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Next Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Next Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Ecolab by 131.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 180,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,184,000 after acquiring an additional 102,687 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 29.4% during the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 56,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

ECL stock opened at $253.51 on Wednesday. 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 $71.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.