Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Acquired by Ballentine Partners LLC

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. by 28.5% during the second quarter, now owning 5,770 shares valued at approximately $1,555,000.
• Several institutional investors have also made adjustments to their positions in Ecolab, contributing to a total of 74.91% of the stock being held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Ecolab recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.0%, set for payment on October 15th to investors of record by September 16th.

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,770 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $267.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

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.

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