Westpac Banking Corp Has $742,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 84.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,827 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,700 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,870,000 after purchasing an additional 6,238 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in Ecolab by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 330,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,670,000 after purchasing an additional 68,062 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 7.7% during the third quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 48,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its position in Ecolab by 19.9% during the third quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 83,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,834,000 after purchasing an additional 13,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Ecolab by 40.2% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 45,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,459,000 after purchasing an additional 13,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.53.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ECL opened at $255.89 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.15 and a 12-month high of $309.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $261.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.34.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 39.51%.

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.