Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC Purchases New Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.7% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 20.3% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 471,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,444,000 after buying an additional 79,613 shares during the period. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 71,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,286,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $269.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $247.86 and a 200 day moving average of $248.96. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

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.