4,063 Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Bought by IFP Advisors Inc

Key Points

• IFP Advisors increased its Ecolab position by 315% in the third quarter, acquiring 4,063 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 5,353 shares valued at approximately $1.47 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.91% of Ecolab.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Ecolab, with one Strong Buy, 19 Buy and three Hold ratings; the stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $324.50.
• Ecolab reported quarterly EPS of $2.09, slightly above estimates, while revenue rose 9.7% year over year to $4.42 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, equivalent to a 1.0% annualized yield.

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 315.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,063 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $244,381,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,617,425 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,007,851,000 after purchasing an additional 51,712 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,412,057 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $641,609,000 after purchasing an additional 88,096 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Ecolab by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,243,825 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $596,902,000 after purchasing an additional 830,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ecolab from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecolab from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $324.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were 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 owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:ECL opened at $287.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $279.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.21.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.

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