Pacer Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,886 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,220 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

ECL stock traded down $2.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $245.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,026,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,939. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.39 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $252.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business's revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus 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.