Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Position Raised by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 374,609 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,503 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Ecolab worth $95,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 478,355 shares of company stock worth $117,922,965 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $277.20.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0 %

Ecolab stock traded down $2.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $245.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,026,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,059,155. The stock has a market cap of $69.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $182.39 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $252.35 and a 200 day moving average of $243.82. 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 quarterly 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 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.