Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Short Interest Down 5.4% in October

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,760,000 shares, a decline of 5.4% from the October 15th total of 1,860,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 898,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $245.24 on Monday. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $182.39 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a market capitalization of $69.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. 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 of $252.35 and a 200-day moving average of $243.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.20.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % 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, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $881,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in Ecolab by 9.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,285,000 after buying an additional 69,142 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 33.6% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.3% during the third quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 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.