Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC Sells 83 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $244.94. The company had a trading volume of 184,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,069. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $174.08 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.