National Pension Service Boosts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

National Pension Service increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 716,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 87,209 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.25% of Ecolab worth $182,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $244.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $69.57 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $252.59 and a 200 day moving average of $242.28. 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 one year low of $172.79 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 note on Monday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.