S&CO Inc. Sells 1,671 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

S&CO Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,671 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up 4.0% of S&CO Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $61,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Ecolab by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 74,789 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,961,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 20.5% during the first quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the 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 transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ECL. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $255.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.32. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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 firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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 expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

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.