12,725 Shares in Ecolab Inc. $ECL Acquired by Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,545,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.56.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares in the company, valued at $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 28,866 shares of company stock valued at $7,878,801. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:ECL opened at $281.91 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.15 and a 1 year high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $79.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.66.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%.The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Ecolab 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.