Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC

Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 133.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,054 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares during the quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $780,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 23.3% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 2,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $205,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in Ecolab by 249.2% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 13.8% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 10,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,566,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.07.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.80 on Friday, hitting $254.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 726,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,758. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $247.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.75. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $258.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.26%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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.