Graney & King LLC Invests $26,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 17.5% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $115,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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, January 10th. Four research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $252.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.16. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.