Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,832 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 471,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $120,444,000 after acquiring an additional 79,613 shares during the period. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 71,618 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,286,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $269.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a PE ratio of 36.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $247.86 and a 200-day moving average of $248.96. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

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.