Forbes J M & Co. LLP Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock worth $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

ECL opened at $247.39 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $241.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.96. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $200.50 and a 12 month high of $262.61.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a positive change 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 presently 36.47%.

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.