David Maclennan Buys 400 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $266.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $75.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.14. 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 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $268.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.19.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.33.

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.