Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $263.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler upped 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. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ECL opened at $244.57 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $167.30 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $69.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $252.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $241.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after buying an additional 591,040 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.