Centaurus Financial Inc. Buys 156 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $247.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $70.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $251.54 and its 200-day moving average is $244.66. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.86 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.