Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,908 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,559 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $241.77 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $252.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.19. The company has a market capitalization of $68.46 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $184.95 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 662,228 shares of company stock worth $163,358,368 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

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.