M&T Bank Corp Sells 10,166 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,166 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $23,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Ecolab by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 38,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,989,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 161.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 18,768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,398,000 after buying an additional 11,586 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 447.5% during the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 29,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,885,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,441,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $337,770,000 after purchasing an additional 38,402 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $269.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $76.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $248.98 and its 200 day moving average is $249.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.