PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 374 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $33,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,441,000. FWG Holdings LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 1,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 56,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,529,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $241.77 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $252.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $244.19. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $184.95 and a 1 year high of $262.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following 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 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 662,228 shares of company stock valued at $163,358,368 in the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.