Boomfish Wealth Group LLC Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Boomfish Wealth Group LLC lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.07.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $256.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $73.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $258.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.