Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 891 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $21,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $27,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, September 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $207.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.64.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Ecolab stock opened at $184.98 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $191.41.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.99 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.81%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ecolab

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.