Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co Purchases 443 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.5% during the third quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

ECL stock opened at $256.38 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.49.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.