Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Acquired by Osprey Private Wealth LLC

Osprey Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,475 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for 2.4% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $262.24 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 previous year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 41.95%.

Ecolab Company 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.