Angeles Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 175 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.79 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.