Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $247.61 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.39 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $252.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $243.50. The company has a market cap of $70.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.