Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Acquires 49,288 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 386,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $98,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $248.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $244.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.32 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS 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 company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eight 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

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.