Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its position in Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 4,323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $549,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.0% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 565,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $144,383,000 after acquiring an additional 5,441 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 2.7% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 45,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 11.9% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. The trade was a 0.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $245.97 on Tuesday. 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 $69.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.39 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $252.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

About Ecolab

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.