Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 0.3% in the third 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. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Ecolab by 17.3% in the third 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. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $245.11 on Friday. 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 $69.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $252.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.53.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

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.