Insider Selling: Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Major Shareholder Sells 409,136 Shares of Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $244.50. 1,008,311 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,320. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $252.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.28. 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 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 1-year low of $172.79 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 187.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $1,404,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $628,000. Arvest Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the third quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 3,950 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,724 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.