Amalgamated Bank Sells 777 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Amalgamated Bank cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 777 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $265.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $268.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $248.16.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.00.

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.