Twin City Private Wealth LLC Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Twin City Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dillon & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 48,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,385,000 after purchasing an additional 3,473 shares during the last quarter. Walnut Level Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $1,763,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 205,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $48,148,000 after buying an additional 8,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 4,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $989,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $250.79 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target 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 increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Company 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.