McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. Has $534,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.07.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $259.77 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $249.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.39. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $261.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.