Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 301,591 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 16,747 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Ecolab worth $77,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $306.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $277.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $3.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $250.04. 1,023,685 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 969,187. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $252.31 and a 200-day moving average of $242.89. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.34 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.