Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 106,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $248.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $251.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.89. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.32 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab 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 sale, the insider now owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667. Company 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.