Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Cetera Trust Company N.A

Cetera Trust Company N.A lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 61.5% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after buying an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 552.5% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 78,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,610,000 after purchasing an additional 66,210 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 89.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $310,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

ECL opened at $239.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $67.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $241.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $245.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

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.