Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,510 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 5.6% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Ecolab by 21.0% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0 %

ECL opened at $245.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.39 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $252.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.82. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.