Private Advisor Group LLC Has $4.83 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $233.34 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $234.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $225.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.