Boomfish Wealth Group LLC Acquires 191 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Boomfish Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,961 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 425,430 shares of company stock valued at $104,201,556 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $252.65 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.68.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

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.