Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Has $22.21 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $22,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

ECL traded down $2.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $259.24. The company had a trading volume of 162,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,083,993. The company has a market capitalization of $74.03 billion, a PE ratio of 48.42, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $262.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $250.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.