Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder William H. Gates III Sells 409,136 Shares

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9 %

ECL opened at $244.72 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $69.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $252.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.79 and a 12 month high of $262.61.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position 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 valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.