Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC Sells 83 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $244.94. The stock had a trading volume of 184,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $174.08 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $252.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $242.49.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.