Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. Has $1.13 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. Syon Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 74,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ECL traded up $2.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $256.17. 152,594 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,091,863. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $73.15 billion, a PE ratio of 47.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $258.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its 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 net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.07.

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.