Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. Has $902,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $902,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $245.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $251.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.37. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $186.00 and a one year high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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, October 30th. Piper Sandler increased 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. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % 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, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 838,770 shares of company stock worth $206,273,864. 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.