Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Increases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 830 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $264.47 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $268.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $244.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.57. The firm has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.33.

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.