Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases 34,995 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 78.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,995 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

ECL opened at $247.70 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.86 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $70.14 billion, a PE ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $251.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.68.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab 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.