Mizuho Securities USA LLC Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 27.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,042 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ECL traded down $2.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $245.24. 1,026,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,059,155. The firm's 50 day moving average is $252.35 and its 200-day moving average is $243.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.39 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab 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.