Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder William H. Gates III Sells 65,015 Shares

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) 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 sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $244.50. 1,008,311 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,320. The company has a market cap of $69.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $242.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.79 and a twelve month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.