Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 893 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,413 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 54,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,804,000 after acquiring an additional 3,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $233.45 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $66.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $242.77 and a 200-day moving average of $245.60.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.47.

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.