Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 14,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,398,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 14.5% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.1% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.4% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $250.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $254.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.