Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder Sells $20,629,403.08 in Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total transaction of $20,629,403.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $245.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $251.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.29. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.00 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company 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 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $242,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 9.0% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after acquiring an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $881,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

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.