Avitas Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 84.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 50.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 19.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $1,194,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Ecolab by 9.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 283,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $65,653,000 after acquiring an additional 24,910 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ECL opened at $252.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.87 billion, a PE ratio of 42.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.15 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company’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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share 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.