Thrive Wealth Management LLC Sells 377 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Thrive Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $80,564,000. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its stake in Ecolab by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 11,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $267.39 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company 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.