Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Gulf International Bank UK Ltd

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 884 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 78.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 4.2% in the third quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 17,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,473,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 207.8% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,886 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,375,000 after purchasing an additional 19,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 13.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 716,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $182,872,000 after buying an additional 87,209 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0 %

ECL stock opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $252.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.48. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.79 and a twelve 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 stock has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a PEG 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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

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.