Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $725,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were 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 owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $245.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $251.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.37. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.00 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $69.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current 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.