Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 28,231 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $35,705,000 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. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $261.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $74.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $269.06 and a 200-day moving average of $267.53.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

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.