Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Sells 88 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 88 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in 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 last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

ECL stock opened at $267.76 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $248.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.15. The company has a market cap of $75.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

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.