Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Newly Acquired by Bernicke Wealth Management Ltd.

Bernicke Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 5,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $6,422,340,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the second 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 period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Ecolab by 8.3% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,708,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $743,726,000 after purchasing an additional 206,562 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Ecolab by 3.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Ecolab by 58.8% in 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 buying an additional 830,726 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $308.12 per share, for a total transaction of $184,872.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 26,225 shares in the company, valued at $8,080,447. The trade was a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Ecolab

Here are a few of the latest headlines about ECL:

• 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%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $309.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.54. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.15 and a 52 week 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $315.00 to $380.00 in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.00.

Ecolab Profile

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.