Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Purchased by Klingman & Associates LLC

Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the second quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 18,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,977,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $208,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 22.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the second quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Erste Group Bank began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $278.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $274.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.23. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $78.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

About Ecolab

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.