StockNews.com Downgrades Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) to Hold

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $4.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $255.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,848,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,295. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after purchasing an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after acquiring an additional 35,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Ecolab by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.