Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 9,858 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,730 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,858 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Ecolab by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $795,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,202 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE ECL traded up $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $265.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,497,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,549. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $248.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.65. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Five equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

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.