Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 4,997 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,997 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $245.30 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.45. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $186.00 and a twelve month 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 (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 business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total value of $17,216,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.