Eastern Bank Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Eastern Bank grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 165,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $38,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 62.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $3.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $232.99. 757,490 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,025,203. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $195.49 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $65.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.65.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

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.