AlphaCore Capital LLC Buys 632 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $243.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $68.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $251.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.18. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.00 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.87.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 662,228 shares of company stock worth $163,358,368 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.