Millstone Evans Group LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% during 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 buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 11.1% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $252.72 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.10. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.