William H. Gates III Sells 70,000 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $245.30 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $186.00 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $69.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.