Mcdaniel Terry & Co. Has $39.74 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,602 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,870 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for approximately 3.3% of Mcdaniel Terry & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. owned approximately 0.06% of Ecolab worth $39,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE ECL traded down $2.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $264.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 970,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $247.34. The stock has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $268.00. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab 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.