Focus Financial Network Inc. Has $4.79 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Focus Financial Network Inc. decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 49 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.8% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 45,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,687,000 after acquiring an additional 3,310 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 487,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,569,000 after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 5,671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 3,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $245.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.61. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.15 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.