Elefante Mark B Purchases Shares of 1,000 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Elefante Mark B acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $252.78. The stock had a trading volume of 951,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,489. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The business's 50-day moving average price is $247.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $71.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. 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. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.