Montecito Bank & Trust Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Montecito Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 26.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,682 shares during the quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

Ecolab stock opened at $244.72 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $172.79 and a one year high of $262.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $252.45 and its 200 day moving average is $242.49. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $69.29 billion, a PE ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

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 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents 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. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. Company insiders own 0.50% 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.