Intact Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE ECL opened at $246.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.55 and its two-hundred day simple 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 quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $70.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 2.48 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during 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%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’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 value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.