Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. Sells 4,063 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,374 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,063 shares during the quarter. Ecolab comprises about 3.7% of Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 24.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 24.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,081 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 4.4% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.6% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $223,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $2.29 on Thursday, hitting $247.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 786,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,211. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $252.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $182.39 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.20.

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.