Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 22,862 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.08% of Ecolab worth $58,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $261.73 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.64 and a 200-day moving average of $267.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous 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, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.