B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 25,228 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $6,441,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 1,168,367 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $295,661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,654 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value 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 $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 662,228 shares of company stock valued at $163,358,368 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $2.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $241.77. 1,383,578 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,086,588. The stock's fifty day moving average is $252.00 and its 200-day moving average is $244.19. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $184.95 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $68.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a PEG 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 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. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm's revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.87.

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.