Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,997 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

ECL stock opened at $245.30 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $251.75 and a 200 day moving average of $244.45. The firm has a market cap of $69.46 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.00 and a twelve month 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, 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 value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

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.