First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,043 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $651,000. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 116,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,355,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Ecolab by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 7,897 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.5% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $277.35 on Friday. 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 cap of $78.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $274.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.92.

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.