Bar Harbor Wealth Management Sells 293 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bar Harbor Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,090 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 293 shares during the quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 717,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $170,768,000 after purchasing an additional 71,810 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $512,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 31.8% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 1,482 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $3.73 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $233.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 871,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,309. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $243.00 and its 200-day moving average is $245.65. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $66.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler reduced 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, Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.