Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.07.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $249.05 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $71.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $256.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.01.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.