Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Equitable Trust Co.

Equitable Trust Co. reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE ECL opened at $250.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.34 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $252.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.89.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.