Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Purchased by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 191,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Eastern Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Ecolab worth $51,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.29.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $271.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $77.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $274.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.