CIBC Asset Management Inc Raises Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,772 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ECL. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 478,355 shares of company stock valued at $117,922,965 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $245.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $252.35 and a 200-day moving average of $243.82. The company has a market capitalization of $69.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 2.50 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 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company’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 firm earned $1.54 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.