Geneva Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Geneva Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 535 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 11.9% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% in the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $420,000. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 187.4% during the third quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $249.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.46. The company has a market capitalization of $70.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.40 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

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

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.