Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Sold by Investment House LLC

Investment House LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 25,841 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 64.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.50.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $292.32 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.15 and a 12-month high of $309.27. The company has a market cap of $81.95 billion, a PE ratio of 39.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.