MBB Public Markets I LLC Takes $319,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc., investing approximately $319,000 for 1,260 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Ecolab, with Brighton Jones LLC boosting its stake by 164.7% in the fourth quarter.
• Ecolab recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.0%, set to be paid on October 15th.

MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,260 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 49,127 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,442,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,547,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in Ecolab by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 10,726 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $270.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $272.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. 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 (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). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. 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 expect 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 issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Ecolab Company 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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