Signaturefd LLC Purchases 127 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 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 valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $253.51 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.