Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 26.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 830 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $602,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $248.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.16 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 over the last three months. 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.