Davis R M Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Davis R M Inc. reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 119,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,884 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $30,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $245.30 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.00 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $251.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.45. The company has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their price target on 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 Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 838,770 shares of company stock worth $206,273,864 over the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.