Lpwm LLC Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Lpwm LLC lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Lpwm LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,311 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 25,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,043,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 607.9% during the fourth quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 6,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $233.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $242.51 and its 200-day moving average is $245.57. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $195.49 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company 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.