Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,360 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Ecolab by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,661,000 after purchasing an additional 13,654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $245.97 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $182.39 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $252.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.87.

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.