Analysts Set Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) PT at $277.20

Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $277.20.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.04 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $175.34 and a 12 month high of $262.61. 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’s 50 day moving average is $252.31 and its 200 day moving average is $242.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.80 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 16.4% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,501 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in Ecolab by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 551,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,877,000 after buying an additional 111,302 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 904,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,979,000 after acquiring an additional 7,264 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 11.1% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 14.5% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.