Legacy Private Trust Co. Sells 225 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Legacy Private Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,665 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

Ecolab stock opened at $252.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $246.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.15. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $256.59.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.07.

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.