Avitas Wealth Management LLC Has $501,000 Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 value of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $249.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $70.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.90. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.72 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

Ecolab 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.