Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Emprise Bank

Emprise Bank cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised 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 acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $231.00. The stock had a trading volume of 409,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 977,493. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $243.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.65. 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. The firm has a market cap of $65.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. 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.