Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Holdings Trimmed by Waldron Private Wealth LLC

Waldron Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. Erste Group Bank began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday, October 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.92.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $277.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.44. The company has a market cap of $78.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’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 value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab 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.