Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,911 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 5,911 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $26,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.73 on Monday, hitting $245.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 774,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,547. 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 $69.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $182.39 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $252.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 578,355 shares of company stock valued at $142,728,965 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.