Andra AP fonden Reduces Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Andra AP fonden reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,200 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the second quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% in the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $252.60 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $270.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.73. The company has a market cap of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

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

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.