Aviva PLC Sells 74,908 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Aviva PLC lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 28.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 74,908 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned 0.07% of Ecolab worth $51,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 6.6% in the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% during the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $255.86 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $270.19 and a 200 day moving average of $267.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.