Zevin Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Zevin Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,137 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up 2.7% of Zevin Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Zevin Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $17,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $245.24 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.95. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.39 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

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.