Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,786 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $19,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,194,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $248.13. 102,199 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,083,347. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.40 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $252.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $243.46. 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 has a market capitalization of $70.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.