Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stake Reduced by Arrow Financial Corp

Arrow Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Arrow Financial Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at 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 position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $250.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $175.34 and a one year high of $262.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $252.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.73. The company has a market capitalization of $70.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.