Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Has $14.77 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 62,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,819 shares during the quarter. Ecolab comprises 1.0% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first 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 period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.67.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $249.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $253.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $242.50 and a 200-day moving average of $234.31.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

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.