Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $252.55 and its 200-day moving average is $242.48. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.79 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the 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 approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab 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 owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade 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 worth $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.