Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Invests $852,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,634 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $852,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. Corundum Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,769,000 after buying an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 165,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,771,000 after acquiring an additional 2,853 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:ECL traded up $1.50 on Monday, reaching $254.17. The stock had a trading volume of 1,975,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,760. The company has a market cap of $72.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm's fifty day moving average is $247.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.55. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab 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.