HF Advisory Group LLC Sells 42 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

HF Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,331 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during 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 buying an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.79 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $242.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.