Eastern Bank Has $41.52 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 750.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 162,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143,497 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $41,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $259.15. The stock had a trading volume of 398,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,266. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $250.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.15. The firm has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.