Meridian Wealth Management LLC Makes New $725,000 Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value 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 approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $245.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. 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 P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

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.