Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Purchased by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 304,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 15,392 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $80,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,190,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,898,565,000 after acquiring an additional 527,902 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,610,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $703,452,000 after purchasing an additional 90,005 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,159,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $591,535,000 after purchasing an additional 63,629 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Ecolab by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,718,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,857,000 after purchasing an additional 65,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in Ecolab by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,661,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $454,969,000 after purchasing an additional 115,344 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total transaction of $6,147,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,907,351.78. This trade represents a 18.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total transaction of $390,454.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,760.28. This trade represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $310.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.56.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $263.77 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $284.17 and a 200 day moving average of $273.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $74.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.The business had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.