Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Fiera Capital Corp

Fiera Capital Corp reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,826 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,253 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 32.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 15.9% in the third 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 last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 84.3% in the first 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 50.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ECL traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $250.94. The stock had a trading volume of 226,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,083,646. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.16 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $252.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $243.05. The company has a market cap of $71.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a PEG ratio of 2.49 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.