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

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 844.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap 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. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $255.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.88.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.