Fiduciary Trust Co Buys 902 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,058,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $248,121,000 after buying an additional 54,246 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Ecolab by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,704,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $399,295,000 after purchasing an additional 108,526 shares during the period. EHP Funds Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $937,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,262,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 8,711 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,041,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $253.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $247.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.47.

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.