Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by First Pacific Financial

First Pacific Financial lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,943 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Syon Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $914,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ECL traded up $1.81 on Tuesday, hitting $258.25. 848,962 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,092,814. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $261.54. The company has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a PE ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $248.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.05.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.