Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Price Target Raised to $263.00

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $263.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on ECL. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird raised 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.20.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $244.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $69.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $167.30 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $241.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’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 transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $231,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 694,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,451,000 after purchasing an additional 48,617 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,997,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.