Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC Makes New $950,000 Investment in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $6,422,340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,788,497,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110,472 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,883,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,069,468,000 after acquiring an additional 441,747 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $244,381,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,635,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,472,599,000 after acquiring an additional 46,569 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ECL. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday, August 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.56.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.5%

ECL opened at $286.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $278.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.70. The company has a market cap of $80.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.15 and a 1 year high of $309.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Benjamin M. Clark purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $263.83 per share, with a total value of $263,830.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,727.89. This trade represents a 1,204.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.