Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 46 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

ECL opened at $247.55 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.86 and a 52-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 firm has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $251.54 and its 200-day moving average is $244.66.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.