Greenleaf Trust Sells 590 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Greenleaf Trust lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Invesco LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $249.97 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $195.49 and a one year high of $262.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $241.72 and its 200 day moving average is $245.79. The stock has a market cap of $70.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group downgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.