Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stake Raised by Legacy Private Trust Co.

Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the third quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.27.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $234.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $66.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $194.34 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $243.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.76. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

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.