Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Fulton Bank N.A.

Posted by Gary Stephens on Apr 8th, 2021

Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 6,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HCR Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 8,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.58% of the company’s stock.

In other Ecolab news, EVP Jill S. Wyant sold 2,613 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.54, for a total value of $560,593.02. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,123 shares in the company, valued at $2,171,788.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Gabelli raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 15th. Argus boosted their target price on Ecolab from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 7th. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Monday, March 29th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, March 29th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $221.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.62.

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $215.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,000,515. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.46. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.42 and a 52-week high of $231.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $61.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.17, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.01.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Ecolab had a positive return on equity of 18.14% and a negative net margin of 8.21%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.66 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 15th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 32.99%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services worldwide. Its 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, and petrochemical industries.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Fulton Bank N.A.

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