Wolverine Asset Management LLC Takes $1.40 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,404,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 32.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 15.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,224 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,895,000 after acquiring an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $1.59 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $249.90. 969,185 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,087,545. 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 1-year low of $181.40 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $252.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.20.

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.