ING Groep NV Trims Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

ING Groep NV lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,332 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $34,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Ecolab by 295.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after acquiring an additional 591,040 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Ecolab by 580.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after acquiring an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $248.48. The company had a trading volume of 152,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,083,313. The company’s 50-day moving average is $252.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $243.50. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $182.39 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $70.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.