Smith Salley Wealth Management Purchases 307 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.49 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.90. The firm has a market cap of $72.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 38.26%.

Ecolab 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.