Verity Asset Management Inc. Sells 698 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Verity Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 42.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 698 shares during the quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Ecolab by 580.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after purchasing an additional 258,971 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment 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 an average price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.5 %

ECL stock opened at $249.95 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.34 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $252.31 and its 200-day moving average is $242.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.50% of the stock is 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.