3,869 Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,349 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,869 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 44.0% in the third quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 39,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,881,000 after acquiring an additional 12,118 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 5,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 600.0% in the 3rd quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 280 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $344,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $140,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $315.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $88.47 billion, a PE ratio of 37.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.85. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.15 and a 12 month high of $315.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $283.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.64.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.58.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.