Toronto Dominion Bank Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Toronto Dominion Bank lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 93,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 32,209 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $23,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,518 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,407,000 after buying an additional 2,924 shares during the period. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 776 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 60,768 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,744 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $1.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $250.07. 1,428,107 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,087,249. The company has a market capitalization of $70.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.46 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a boost from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $279.87.

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.