Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Mizuho Markets Americas LLC

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,955 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,329 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following 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 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0 %

Ecolab stock opened at $245.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.69. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.39 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

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.