King Luther Capital Management Corp Acquires 7,264 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 904,631 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,264 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up approximately 1.0% of King Luther Capital Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.32% of Ecolab worth $230,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $241.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.95 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $252.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.19. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business 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 firm'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 earned $1.54 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 662,228 shares of company stock valued at $163,358,368. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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