Okabena Investment Services Inc. Buys 2,146 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.9% during the second quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1%

Ecolab stock opened at $275.16 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $268.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.90. 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 market cap of $77.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.53, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last 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, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.