Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 487,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $124,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 5,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $978,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’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 directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $250.96. 62,353 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,079,020. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.15 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $71.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.58.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

About Ecolab

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.