Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Integrated Advisors Network LLC

Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $231,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 694,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,451,000 after purchasing an additional 48,617 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $2,997,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $159.15 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.58.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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.