Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 32.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.79 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $252.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.48.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Corporate 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.