Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC Sells 200 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.87 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.