Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Chemung Canal Trust Co.

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,737 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,094 shares during the quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 69,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,194,000 after acquiring an additional 5,308 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in 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 period. Montecito Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 8,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $238,000. Finally, Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $242.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $68.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.60. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.49 and a 12 month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Ecolab Company 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.