Boston Financial Mangement LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

by · The Markets Daily

Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on ECL

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought 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 trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $256.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.59 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.97 billion, a PE ratio of 43.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.28.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 38.26%.

Ecolab Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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