Sargent Investment Group LLC Has $468,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sargent Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake 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 worth $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value 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. This trade represents 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 link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents 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 worth $117,922,965 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $1.74 during trading on Thursday, hitting $248.16. 160,427 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,083,350. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $252.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.50. The company has a market cap of $70.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.39 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

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.