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

AMG National Trust Bank trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,695 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,922 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

Ecolab stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $268.54. 1,432,636 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,188,315. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $274.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $264.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.28. The company has a market cap of $76.17 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.