AMG National Trust Bank Has $8.82 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

AMG National Trust Bank raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 5,189 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Ecolab by 7.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Ecolab stock opened at $266.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $75.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $249.53 and a 200-day moving average of $249.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.