US Bancorp DE Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

US Bancorp DE decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,094,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,326 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $279,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $251.15. 92,976 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,079,165. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $159.15 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $252.70 and a 200 day moving average of $241.58.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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.