Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 84.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,891 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 10,382 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% 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.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:ECL opened at $264.46 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $268.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

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.