Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 520 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 520 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.21.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $277.20 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $271.70 and a 200 day moving average of $260.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $78.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during 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 forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.