Connecticut Wealth Management LLC Acquires 205 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value 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 represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $259.63 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $246.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.01. The firm has a market cap of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

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.