Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $313.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $313.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ECL. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ECL opened at $262.36 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a one year low of $212.71 and a one year high of $267.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.08.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. 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 payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 260,415 shares of company stock worth $63,544,899 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth $330,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in Ecolab by 4.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 6.3% during the third quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.