LS Investment Advisors LLC Sells 554 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LS Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,644 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 554 shares during the quarter. Ecolab comprises approximately 2.6% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $17,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $246.29 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $174.08 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a market cap of $69.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

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.