Ecolab Inc. $ECL Position Lessened by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 74.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,087 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,166 shares during the quarter. Inceptionr LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Country Trust Bank grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 341.3% during the second quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,837 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,511,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 24,942.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 124,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,468,000 after purchasing an additional 123,716 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.4% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 20,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1%

ECL opened at $275.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $268.26 and its 200-day moving average is $268.76. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI raised Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

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.