Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Has $515,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $238.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $67.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $219.97 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $250.45 and a 200-day moving average of $248.01.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% 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.