Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder Sells $15,850,657.00 in Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $244.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $252.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $242.49. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.79 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

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.