Larson Financial Group LLC Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Larson Financial Group LLC trimmed its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 4.7% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 23.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 146,850 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,500,000 after acquiring an additional 27,830 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 34,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,721,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $725,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $245.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $69.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $251.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.45. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.00 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ecolab

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.