Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Boston Family Office LLC

Key Points

• Boston Family Office LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 2.2% in the first quarter, holding 96,681 shares valued at approximately $24.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have substantially increased their holdings, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its shares by over 27,000% during the same period.
• Wall Street analysts show a generally positive outlook for Ecolab, with the average target price set at $291.21 and multiple upgrades to "buy" or "strong buy" ratings.

Boston Family Office LLC cut its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 96,681 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,126 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for 1.7% of Boston Family Office LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Boston Family Office LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of ECL traded up $3.2880 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $283.3680. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,000,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,203,427. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $285.11. The stock has a market cap of $80.37 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.06. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $268.71 and its 200 day moving average is $259.02.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. 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 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. 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.