State Street Corp Sells 188,634 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

State Street Corp decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,278,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 188,634 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.98% of Ecolab worth $2,886,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $2.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $250.31. 931,508 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,086,395. The business's 50-day moving average price is $250.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $245.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $189.58 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 31.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.