Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Ellevest Inc.

Ellevest Inc. reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Ellevest Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 347.4% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,056 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $258.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $73.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $271.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.89.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued 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 was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 37.36%.

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.