Nebula Research & Development LLC Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Nebula Research & Development LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 127.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,317 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Rothschild Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Capital Partners LLC now owns 54,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,857,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,183,000. Evercore Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,998,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $222,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE ECL opened at $239.89 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $218.19 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $68.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.21.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.33.

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.