Anthracite Investment Company Inc. Makes New $1.53 Million Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Anthracite Investment Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,532,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 8,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 662,228 shares of company stock valued at $163,358,368 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Ecolab stock traded down $2.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $241.77. 1,383,578 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,086,588. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $184.95 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $252.15 and a 200-day moving average of $244.20. The company has a market cap of $68.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Ecolab Company 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.