Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 85 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after buying an additional 591,040 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 136.0% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,467,000 after acquiring an additional 206,973 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,372,030,892.46. This represents a 0.34 % 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now 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 ninety days, insiders sold 578,355 shares of company stock valued at $142,728,965. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $245.97 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $252.28 and its 200 day moving average is $244.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.39 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $69.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Ecolab 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.