YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up 1.5% of YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $17,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position 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. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $246.02 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $69.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $241.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.64.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

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.