Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Holdings Lowered by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 345,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,973 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 1.9% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $88,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avestar Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $115,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 68,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,574,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 47,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,090,000 after purchasing an additional 4,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight equities research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $245.30. The stock had a trading volume of 68,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,099. The company has a market capitalization of $69.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $251.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.54. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $186.13 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 838,770 shares of company stock valued at $206,273,864 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.