Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 806 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $214,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $852,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 23,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,457,000 after buying an additional 8,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $244.65. 212,578 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,085,495. The business’s fifty day moving average is $252.64 and its 200-day moving average is $242.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $172.79 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

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.