Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Invests $1.08 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $249.79 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $200.50 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.95. The firm has a market cap of $70.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

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.