Notis McConarty Edward Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Notis McConarty Edward reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. by 45.1%, now holding 2,430 shares valued at $655,000 after selling 2,000 shares in the second quarter.
• Several major hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., increased their holdings in Ecolab, indicating strong institutional interest, with 74.91% of the stock owned by such investors.
• Ecolab recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing a yield of 0.9%, with an upcoming payment date of October 15th for shareholders of record on September 16th.

Notis McConarty Edward trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 45.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,430 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Notis McConarty Edward's holdings in Ecolab were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after buying an additional 261,489 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,036,485,000 after buying an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 4.0% in the first 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 valued at $964,885,000 after buying an additional 145,902 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $906,900,000 after buying an additional 27,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $689,154,000 after buying an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.29.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $281.35 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $273.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% 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 insiders.

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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