Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Sells 2,140 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,665 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,140 shares during the quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,098,000 after buying an additional 6,137 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 50.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth $1,194,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 283,748 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $65,653,000 after buying an additional 24,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $252.70. The stock had a trading volume of 822,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,081,480. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $71.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $252.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.15 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 38.26%.

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.