Spire Wealth Management Has $1.45 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th 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 grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the 3rd 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.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $249.76 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $241.72 and a 200 day moving average of $245.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

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.