Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 3,518 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 82.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,518 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $247.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $251.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.66. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.86 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 2.47 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.