Valmark Advisers Inc. Invests $271,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 18,014 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. abrdn plc increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $295,661,000 after purchasing an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $282,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 82,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,989,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.7 %

ECL stock opened at $245.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $159.15 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $241.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 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.