HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Buys 112 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Ecolab by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,213,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.47 and its 200 day moving average is $249.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.