Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 5,911 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 102,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,911 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $26,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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 raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $245.24 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $252.35 and a 200-day moving average of $243.95. 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 $69.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.39 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company 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.