Boston Trust Walden Corp Trims Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ECL opened at $248.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.49 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $70.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.86.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio 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.