CW Advisors LLC Sells 7,065 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

CW Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,065 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $847,544,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $337,563,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 119.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $548,671,000 after buying an additional 1,109,585 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after buying an additional 261,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 834,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $211,450,000 after acquiring an additional 251,730 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7%

ECL stock opened at $270.92 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $268.46 and its 200 day moving average is $269.10. The stock has a market cap of $76.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.