Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder William H. Gates III Sells 83,873 Shares

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total value of $20,629,403.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,534,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. This represents a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $243.39 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.00 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $251.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $68.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $242,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the period. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $881,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 9.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,285,000 after buying an additional 69,142 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

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.