Assetmark Inc. Has $9.62 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,951 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.9% in the third quarter. Wealth Group Ltd now owns 853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 4.3% during the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 3.4% during the third quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 4.7% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore raised Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $265.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.06.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $298.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $306.52.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.11%.

Ecolab Company 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.