Equitable Trust Co. Has $357,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. now owns 55,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $1,592,000. Finally, Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 182.8% during the 1st quarter. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,637 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $271.93 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $274.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $266.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $255.59. The stock has a market cap of $77.13 billion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays cut their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.