Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Given New $280.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at UBS Group from $257.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.12% from the stock’s previous close.

ECL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $261.38. The company had a trading volume of 775,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,700. 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 has a 52 week low of $212.71 and a 52 week high of $267.56. The firm has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $242.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $246.08.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.