Peak Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 517 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.
Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %
Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $249.90 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.46. The company has a market capitalization of $70.76 billion, a PE ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.40 and a twelve month high of $262.61.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at Ecolab
In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab 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 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.
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