Tidal Investments LLC Buys 3,393 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $367,965,000 after purchasing an additional 155,151 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $365,420,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,343,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $266,392,000 after buying an additional 18,687 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $5.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $236.07. 355,326 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,151,228. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $239.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $249.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ECL. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.