Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 101,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,834,000 after acquiring an additional 39,155 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 6,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 19,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley & Associates raised its stake in Ecolab by 5.7% in the third quarter. Smith Salley & Associates now owns 4,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded down $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $233.15. 351,494 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,203,490. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $234.68. The company has a market capitalization of $66.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $225.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

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.