NewEdge Wealth LLC Has $3.32 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

NewEdge Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $268.64 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $270.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.