JNBA Financial Advisors Has $386,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

JNBA Financial Advisors trimmed its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $244.72 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.79 and a 52 week high of $262.61. 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 capitalization of $69.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $252.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.49.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

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.