Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 137 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 362,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,862,000 after acquiring an additional 17,255 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 54.5% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 309 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,210,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $252.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $252.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.00. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.