Citigroup Increases Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $305.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Citigroup from $290.00 to $305.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.77% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $265.74 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $267.56. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $242.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $246.20. The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 260,415 shares of company stock valued at $63,544,899. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $80,564,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

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.