AlphaQuest LLC Purchases 4,663 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 83.4% in Q1, holding 10,255 shares worth approximately $2.6 million.
• Vanguard Group also boosted its holdings by 1.1%, making it the largest institutional investor with 24.4 million shares valued at over $6.1 billion.
• Ecolab reported Q2 earnings of $1.89 EPS, slightly missing analyst expectations, and set Q3 2025 guidance between 2.020-2.120 EPS.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 83.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,255 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,663 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.21.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.8%

ECL stock traded down $5.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $278.52. 1,098,256 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,306,133. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $269.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.98. The company has a market cap of $78.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab 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 owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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.