Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Sells 225 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its position in 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 worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake 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. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the third quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $244.57 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.30 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $252.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.