Barclays Boosts Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target to $300.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $260.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 22.82% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of ECL opened at $244.27 on Monday. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $182.39 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $69.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This trade represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 578,355 shares of company stock valued at $142,728,965 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth $390,687,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 27,950.4% in 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Ecolab by 295.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 580.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 136.0% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,467,000 after buying an additional 206,973 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently 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.