Amalgamated Bank Sells 777 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 777 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $265.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $268.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $245.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.