Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Diversified Trust Co

Key Points

• Diversified Trust Co reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 17.4% during the second quarter, owning 8,300 shares worth about $2.24 million after selling 1,743 shares.
• Multiple hedge funds have adjusted their positions in Ecolab, with Vanguard Group Inc. increasing its holdings by 1.1% to nearly 24.4 million shares, while Goldman Sachs boosted its stake by 6.8%.
• Ecolab's recent earnings report showed $1.89 earnings per share, falling short of expectations, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, yielding approximately 1.0%.

Diversified Trust Co trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 17.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,300 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,743 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ecolab by 75.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 372,715 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $100,424,000 after buying an additional 160,767 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $31,363,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the second quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 53,699 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $14,469,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.5% during the second quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 76,607 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,641,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 29.5% in the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,007 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,349,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded down $0.76 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $266.33. 437,924 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,308,473. The firm has a market cap of $75.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's fifty day moving average is $272.30 and its 200 day moving average is $261.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.