Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Sells 3,302 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 92.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 265 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,302 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents 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 related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

Ecolab stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $251.02. 656,250 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,107,165. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $256.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $246.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.87. The company has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 46.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.29.

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.