First Merchants Corp Has $1.03 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First Merchants Corp trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $40,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $264.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $242.68 and its 200 day moving average is $246.33. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $213.94 and a 12 month high of $268.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.