Fmr LLC Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fmr LLC lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,109,661 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 89,053 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 0.75% of Ecolab worth $538,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Ecolab by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 11.8% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 47,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,090,000 after buying an additional 4,997 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 11.1% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,045 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE ECL opened at $248.95 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.32 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $251.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.80. The stock has a market cap of $70.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 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 business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following 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 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’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 transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% 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.