West Family Investments Inc. Invests $260,000 in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Evercore ISI raised Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $315.00 price target on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $275.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.53, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $268.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.90.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $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 research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.