TD Private Client Wealth LLC Sells 477 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,042 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 477 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $39,204,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,073,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $269.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $76.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $262.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.61. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Barclays reduced their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given 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 target price of $286.47.

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.