Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC Has $1.37 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after buying an additional 37,167 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $35,040,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

ECL traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $232.80. The company had a trading volume of 44,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,200,036. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $234.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $66.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.21, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $225.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.