NEOS Investment Management LLC Buys 8,531 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 49.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,531 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co raised its stake in Ecolab by 229.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 77,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,336,000 after buying an additional 54,256 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 29.2% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 1,124 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,190,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,898,565,000 after acquiring an additional 527,902 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ecolab from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.76.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $302.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.71 billion, a PE ratio of 41.57, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $276.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.47. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $306.52.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.Ecolab’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 40.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% 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.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.