Empower Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 565,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,441 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.20% of Ecolab worth $144,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.7% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 45,182 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $420,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $248.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 353,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,615. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $252.27 and a 200 day moving average of $243.46. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $181.40 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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.

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.