Coastline Trust Co Invests $26,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $295,661,000 after buying an additional 13,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ECL opened at $245.24 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $252.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $182.39 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.20.

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.