Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Has $319,000 Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,234 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE ECL opened at $252.60 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $159.15 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.38, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 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.