Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 716,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,209 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $182,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 27,950.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 735,934 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Ecolab by 295.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Ecolab by 580.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $244.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.28. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.79 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s 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 owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.