Montecito Bank & Trust Has $2.07 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 26.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $244.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $69.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.79 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $242.49.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.