Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $282,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $271,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Ecolab by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $267.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $269.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $246.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.42.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS 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 forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.