1,420 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Purchased by Texas Bank & Trust Co

Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,420 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $259.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 873,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,165,183. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69. The stock's 50-day moving average is $246.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

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.