24,372 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL Bought by Pensioenfonds Rail & OV

Pensioenfonds Rail & OV purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 24,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,692,000. Ecolab comprises about 1.8% of Pensioenfonds Rail & OV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $244,381,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $578,923,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $495,109,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $413,381,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $308.12 per share, with a total value of $184,872.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 26,225 shares in the company, valued at $8,080,447. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Zacks Research raised Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.00.

Key Stories Impacting Ecolab

Investors following ECL have been watching these stories:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded Ecolab from Equal Weight to Overweight and raised its price target to $380 from $315—about 23% above the cited share price. The firm highlighted the CoolIT and Ovivo acquisitions and potential to benefit from AI data-center cooling needs. This water technology stock is set to get a big boost from AI, says Wells Fargo Ecolab upgraded at Wells Fargo, touting CoolIT and Ovivo acquisitions
• Positive Sentiment: Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares for roughly $184,900 at an average price of $308.12, increasing his holdings by 2.34%. Insider buying can signal confidence in the company’s prospects. Ecolab Director David Maclennan Acquires 600 Shares

Ecolab Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE:ECL traded up $4.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $309.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,208,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,678. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.54. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.15 and a 1 year high of $318.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.18. Ecolab had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 22.57%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, cleaning and infection-prevention products and services to businesses and institutions. Its solutions help customers manage water use, maintain sanitary environments and support operational efficiency. The company serves a range of industries, including food and beverage, foodservice, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences and manufacturing. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing products, water-treatment programs, pest-elimination services, and related monitoring and consulting support.