Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Ecolab by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 350,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,297,000 after acquiring an additional 66,432 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,389 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 43.3% in the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 1,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 161.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,061,000 after purchasing an additional 46,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $229.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $243.00 and a 200 day moving average of $245.61. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.49 and a 12 month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

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.