Baillie Gifford & Co. Lowers Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,017,972 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 96,461 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.36% of Ecolab worth $259,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related 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 value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $249.04. 300,788 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,083,009. The firm's 50-day moving average is $252.26 and its 200-day moving average is $243.27. The stock has a market cap of $70.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 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. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $177.16 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last 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. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.