Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 905 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Conning Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 19,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.7% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its stake in Ecolab by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 136,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,763,000 after buying an additional 3,328 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 45,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,687,000 after buying an additional 3,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company’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 transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company 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 ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $172.79 and a one year high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $252.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.