Empower Advisory Group LLC Acquires 5,441 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 565,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,441 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Ecolab worth $144,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,194,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $248.49 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $177.16 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a market cap of $70.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $243.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

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.