Blueshift Asset Management LLC Has $584,000 Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 133.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after acquiring an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 136.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,467,000 after purchasing an additional 206,973 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 87.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 333,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,376,000 after purchasing an additional 155,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $247.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. 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 fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $251.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $244.66.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Company 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.