Investment Management Corp of Ontario Has $4.38 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,165 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $358,250,000 after acquiring an additional 8,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position 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 worth $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $248.79. The company had a trading volume of 249,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,269. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $188.80 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The firm's fifty day moving average is $251.17 and its 200 day moving average is $245.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.