M&T Bank Corp Sells 11,164 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,164 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $247.13 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $191.53 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a market cap of $69.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.66, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $250.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business 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%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

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.