Insider Selling: Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder Sells 70,000 Shares of Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $245.30 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $186.00 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $251.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.45. The company has a market cap of $69.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.43 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $31,000. 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.