Cambridge Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cambridge Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $19,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. United Bank grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.6% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 10,676 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $218.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 430,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,339. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $222.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.77, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

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.