Patten & Patten Inc. TN Has $3.75 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 15.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,704 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,672 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in Ecolab by 17.3% during the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $250.44. 247,174 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,083,735. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $177.16 and a one year high of $262.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $243.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.20.

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.