Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) major shareholder William H. Gates III acquired 149,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $171.47 per share, with a total value of $25,581,609.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 30,834,744 shares in the company, valued at $5,287,233,553.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

ECL stock opened at $176.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.98, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.02. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.82 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.03. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The business had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ecolab to $198.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $193.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Ecolab from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $194.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 580 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.9% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $361,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Rational Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. 75.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Company Profile

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Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.

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