Danske Bank A S Has $66.15 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Danske Bank A S grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 251,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,247 shares during the quarter. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $66,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Ecolab by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 330,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,670,000 after buying an additional 68,062 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of 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. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 72,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,773,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,254,000 after purchasing an additional 11,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 83,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,834,000 after purchasing an additional 13,840 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total value of $6,147,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,907,351.78. The trade was a 18.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total value of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,505,760.28. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $259.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $249.04 and a one year high of $309.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $275.74 and a 200 day moving average of $273.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.53.

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.