Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Acquired by FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH

Key Points

• FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 255.4% during the 2nd quarter, acquiring a total of 3,152 shares valued at approximately $849,000.
• Analysts have maintained a generally positive outlook on Ecolab, with recent price target increases, including Mizuho raising their target from $285.00 to $305.00 and Oppenheimer upgrading the stock to an "outperform" rating.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.0%, and a payout ratio of 34.71%.

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 255.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,152 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,265 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH's holdings in Ecolab were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,188,736,000 after purchasing an additional 261,489 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% during 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 period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $906,900,000 after acquiring an additional 27,619 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $271.04 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $272.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.52. The company has a market capitalization of $76.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other 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 transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.

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