Zions Bancorporation N.A. Acquires 844 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 844.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $80,564,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Ecolab by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $207,758,000 after acquiring an additional 296,344 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $61,073,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,204,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $255.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.16.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.88.

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.