JNBA Financial Advisors Sells 72 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

JNBA Financial Advisors decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9 %

ECL stock opened at $244.72 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $252.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.79 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. 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 ninety days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Company 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.