Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Holdings Lowered by Aldebaran Financial Inc.

Aldebaran Financial Inc. lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Aldebaran Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 87,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,360,000 after buying an additional 6,633 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 40,533.3% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $749,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 71.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,168 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.29.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ECL opened at $255.33 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $245.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $256.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.