The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 20,557 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 155,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,557 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $39,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 11.8% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 47,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,090,000 after buying an additional 4,997 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $902,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $247.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $251.47 and its 200 day moving average is $244.68. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.86 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $70.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.