Patten & Patten Inc. TN Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,672 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.04 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $242.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $70.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.34 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Corporate 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.