Larson Financial Group LLC Has $1.04 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Larson Financial Group LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8 %

ECL stock opened at $245.30 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $251.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.45. 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 fifty-two week low of $186.00 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of 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 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.