Prospera Financial Services Inc Sells 1,721 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Prospera Financial Services Inc cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,721 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $847,544,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 115.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $193,753,000 after purchasing an additional 389,981 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 64.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 878,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,676,000 after purchasing an additional 344,541 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,644,987,000 after purchasing an additional 250,980 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Ecolab by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 741,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $199,723,000 after buying an additional 246,237 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $265.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $335.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.06.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $298.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $306.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Ecolab

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.