Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $169.29 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 663,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 97,864 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $169,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Ecolab by 295.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ECL opened at $244.50 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $172.79 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.28.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.20.

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.