Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,311 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 25,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,043,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tealwood Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 607.9% during the 4th quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after buying an additional 6,596 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.2 %

Ecolab stock opened at $236.64 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $67.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $242.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

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.