US Bancorp DE Trims Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,182,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 244,312 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.41% of Ecolab worth $234,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its stake in Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $1.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $232.59. 314,655 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,164,139. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $236.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s fifty day moving average is $226.98 and its 200-day moving average is $209.60.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.56.

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.