Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Tilt Investment Management Holdings PBC

Tilt Investment Management Holdings PBC decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 89.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,469 shares during the quarter. Tilt Investment Management Holdings PBC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.7% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.6% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in Ecolab by 17.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 10,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $218.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $62.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.77. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.