Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $602,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $749,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.06.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ECL traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $245.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 848,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 898,611. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $239.52 and a 200 day moving average of $225.54. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $248.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.