Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price Target Raised at Wells Fargo & Company

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $315.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 6.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on ECL. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.58.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of ECL traded up $3.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $295.62. The stock had a trading volume of 100,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,443,489. Ecolab has a 12-month low of $243.15 and a 12-month high of $309.27. The firm has a market cap of $82.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $244,381,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,617,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,007,851,000 after buying an additional 51,712 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,412,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $641,609,000 after acquiring an additional 88,096 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Ecolab by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,243,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $596,902,000 after purchasing an additional 830,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.