Thrive Wealth Management LLC Sells 75 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Thrive Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after acquiring an additional 68,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $981,007,000 after buying an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $237.63 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.55. The firm has a market cap of $67.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.49 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.