Brooklyn Investment Group Buys New Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $247.55 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.86 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The firm 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $251.54 and its 200-day moving average is $244.66. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total transaction of $25,698,995.82. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, 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 a total of 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.