Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 131.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,880 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 102,687 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Ecolab worth $46,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $264,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,862 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,674 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 360.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,096 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,733 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 208.2% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 266,788 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $62,298,000 after purchasing an additional 180,212 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.34 on Tuesday, reaching $245.63. The stock had a trading volume of 446,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,081,754. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $252.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.39 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $950,196.63. Following 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 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.87.

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.