NBT Bank N A NY Has $2.06 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

NBT Bank N A NY cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $265.54 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.82. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $75.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average 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.