By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
First Financial Bank Trust Division cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 865 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.60.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ECL
Insider Activity at Ecolab
In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.
Ecolab Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $3.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $230.93. 909,330 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,042. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $245.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $193.46 and a 1-year high of $262.61.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ecolab Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio 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.
See Also
Receive News & Ratings for Ecolab Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Ecolab and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.