Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,741 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 726 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Ecolab Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE ECL opened at $264.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $272.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.36. The stock has a market cap of $74.88 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, 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 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.