Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Acquired by Eads & Heald Wealth Management

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after buying an additional 261,489 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,036,485,000 after acquiring an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $964,885,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,900,000 after purchasing an additional 27,619 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $689,154,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:ECL opened at $276.60 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The stock has a market cap of $78.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Ecolab 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.