Transform Wealth LLC Purchases 57 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Transform Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Transform Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $239.13. 220,380 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,164,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $68.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $232.92 and a 200 day moving average of $218.82. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $245.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.