BNP Paribas Sells 1,001 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

BNP Paribas decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Ecolab by 78.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 79,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,374,000 after acquiring an additional 34,995 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 133.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 2,288 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 16,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 31,903.1% during the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 20,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,312,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $247.55 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.86 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.66.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction 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 represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $101,023,861.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, 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 834,959 shares of company stock worth $205,323,667 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

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.