Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $245.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $252.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $182.39 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

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