Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 59,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 662,228 shares of company stock worth $163,358,368. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $241.80 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.19. The stock has a market cap of $68.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.00 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab 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.