Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,672 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Ecolab by 14.5% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 11.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 16.4% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,426,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

ECL stock opened at $250.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company’s 50 day moving average is $254.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.03.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

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.