Those following along with Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) will no doubt be intrigued by the recent purchase of shares by Michel Dimitrios Doukeris, Independent Director of the company, who spent a stonking US$2.0m on stock at an average price of US$258. That purchase boosted their holding by 1,345%, which makes us wonder if the move was inspired by quietly confident deeply-felt optimism.

Ecolab Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Michel Dimitrios Doukeris was the biggest purchase of Ecolab shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of US$265. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. Happily, the Ecolab insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

While Ecolab insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying.

Does Ecolab Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 0.1% of Ecolab shares, worth about US$89m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Ecolab Insiders?

The recent insider purchases are heartening. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Ecolab we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Ecolab. For example - Ecolab has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.

But note: Ecolab may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.