Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 59,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,004 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1,375.0% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $250.65 per share, with a total value of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 25,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. This trade represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,087,281.98. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.53.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $256.28 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $261.94 and a 200-day moving average of $271.50. The firm has a market cap of $72.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.15 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.51%.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.