Private Trust Co. NA Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 101.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,180 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,118 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $274.32 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $260.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.86. The company has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.66 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.

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