Savant Capital LLC Acquires 4,074 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 27.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,969 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,074 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $255.86 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $72.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $270.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. The business’s 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is currently 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.