Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 68.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,202 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $4.81 on Thursday, reaching $251.74. The company had a trading volume of 314,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,127,299. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $195.49 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $241.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.68. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 425,430 shares of company stock worth $104,201,556. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, UBS Group cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $278.60.

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.