Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 76,279 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,613,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 41.9% in the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 2,352 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 31,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $247.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $70.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $251.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.86 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.