Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co Buys 247 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $247.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $241.86 and its 200-day moving average is $245.95. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $200.50 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

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.