Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ECL. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.60.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $2.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $247.39. 848,802 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,139,791. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $200.50 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $241.89 and its 200-day moving average is $245.95.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 360,415 shares of company stock valued at $88,350,899. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 27,950.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $188,578,000 after purchasing an additional 735,934 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,073,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,204,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.