CIBC Asset Management Inc Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,867 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $245.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,026,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,059,155. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $182.39 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The business's 50-day moving average is $252.35 and its 200-day moving average is $243.82. The stock has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab 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.