Banque Pictet & Cie SA Sells 15,309 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Banque Pictet & Cie SA decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. by 51.5%, selling 15,309 shares during the second quarter, leaving it with a total of 14,437 shares valued at approximately $3.89 million.
• Ecolab recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, to be paid on October 15th, with a dividend yield of 1.0%.
• The company reported a miss on earnings expectations for the last quarter, with an EPS of $1.89 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90, while achieving revenues of $4.03 billion.

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 51.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,309 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% in the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of ECL opened at $271.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $272.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company 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, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a 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. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ECL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.