Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 332,942 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,019 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up 5.2% of Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA owned about 0.12% of Ecolab worth $85,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $188,317,000 after purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Ecolab by 580.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.
Ecolab Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $246.29. 1,027,210 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,087,972. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.08 and a 1-year high of $262.61. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $69.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company's 50-day moving average price is $252.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.49.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.20.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ECL
About Ecolab
(
Free Report)
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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