Commerce Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Commerce Bank lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,925 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,654 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $243.39 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $186.00 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $251.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.18. The firm has a market cap of $68.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’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 directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 662,228 shares of company stock worth $163,358,368. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.