Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 78.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in Ecolab by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $244.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.79 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $242.49.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. 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 accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. 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, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Ecolab 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.