Aspiriant LLC Buys 272 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Aspiriant LLC raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,188,736,000 after buying an additional 261,489 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,036,485,000 after acquiring an additional 93,409 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $964,885,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $906,900,000 after acquiring an additional 27,619 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 6.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $689,154,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 2.1%

ECL opened at $276.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $274.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.92.

About Ecolab

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.