Community Financial Services Group LLC Buys 513 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.99 and a 12-month high of $267.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $241.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.97. The firm has a market cap of $73.92 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

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.