Thomasville National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Thomasville National Bank decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,595 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Ecolab Trading Up 1.6 %

Ecolab stock opened at $233.45 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.49 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $242.77 and a 200 day moving average of $245.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Barclays increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.