Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Holdings Decreased by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,453 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,716 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $21,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th 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. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 the SEC website. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $267.09. 966,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,180,551. The company has a market capitalization of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $263.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $253.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $274.17.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be 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 is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.00.

Ecolab Company 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.