Krilogy Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $861,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.3% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,144 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Ecolab by 30.2% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 8,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $285,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 8,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares during the period. Finally, Cove Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:ECL opened at $298.90 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $306.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $274.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $84.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ECL. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.06.

Key Ecolab News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ecolab this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results: Ecolab posted a slight EPS beat and provided FY‑2026 guidance (8.43–8.63 EPS), which supports forward earnings visibility. Q4 2025 earnings call transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades: BNP Paribas Exane moved ECL to a “strong‑buy” (and earlier reaffirmed an outperform with a higher price target), adding buy‑side momentum around the name. Zacks – BNP Paribas upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Additional broker support: Evercore ISI issued a buy rating, and other analysts have raised targets (analyst commentary suggests fair values in the low‑to‑mid $300s), reinforcing upside narratives. Evercore ISI buy
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst fair‑value discussion: Coverage noted an average analyst view around US$317 post‑results, which frames where market participants expect ECL to trade over the medium term. Yahoo Finance – $317 analyst view
• Neutral Sentiment: Style/quant coverage: Zacks highlighted Ecolab as a top‑ranked growth/style pick, which may attract style‑focused funds but has limited immediate price impact. Zacks – Top‑ranked growth stock
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns on organic growth: Some analysts/commentary argue Ecolab’s organic growth wasn’t strong enough to fully justify upgrades, raising questions about the sustainability of the recent run. Seeking Alpha – organic growth critique

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.