Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,024 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,326 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,043 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.2% in the first quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 298 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Stone Summit Wealth LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the first quarter. Stone Summit Wealth LLC now owns 11,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,919,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its stake in Ecolab by 14.2% during the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 3,028 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $28,656,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of ECL opened at $263.60 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $257.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $251.05. 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 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.76 billion, a PE ratio of 35.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

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.

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