6,074 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Purchased by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,423,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $245.50 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.99 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.96.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.