Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co Buys 443 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9 %

ECL stock opened at $256.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $251.48 and its 200 day moving average is $240.49. The firm has a market cap of $73.21 billion, a PE ratio of 47.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.