Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Copperleaf Capital LLC

Copperleaf Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. Copperleaf Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.2% during the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 17,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 215.1% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 5,445 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 32,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,096,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 3.4% during the second quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 8,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.7% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the period. 73.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $187.06. 282,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,071,762. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $191.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $53.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $170.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.99 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.81% and a net margin of 8.18%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, September 1st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. TheStreet upgraded Ecolab from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.64.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.