Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Crewe Advisors LLC

Crewe Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 297 shares during the quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $245.30 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.00 and a 12-month high of $262.61. 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 company has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $251.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.45.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’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 company earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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 in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

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.