Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.4% of Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in Ecolab by 750.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,519,000 after purchasing an additional 143,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 330,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,380,000 after purchasing an additional 129,738 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $237.63 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.62. The company has a market cap of $67.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.