Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by DRW Securities LLC

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC has reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 51.4%, now holding 1,144 shares valued at approximately $290,000.
• Vanguard Group Inc. significantly increased its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter, owning over 24.4 million shares valued at $6.19 billion.
• Ecolab announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65, which will be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.9%.

DRW Securities LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 51.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,144 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,212 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 176.7% in the first 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 during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in 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. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $38,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ECL stock traded down $1.38 on Friday, hitting $273.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,243,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,140. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The company's 50 day moving average price is $272.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.16.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued 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). 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. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued 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 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.