Ecolab Inc. $ECL Holdings Increased by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24,942.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,716 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $33,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirabaud & Cie SA grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 437,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,794,000 after purchasing an additional 8,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 108,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,133,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $273.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $267.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.40.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 fiscal year.

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.