Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC Sells 238 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for 2.3% of Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Knowledge Leaders Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 19,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ECL traded up $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $221.10. 1,242,930 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,060,937. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $223.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.94. The company has a market cap of $63.21 billion, a PE ratio of 46.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

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.