Quarry LP Sells 2,008 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Quarry LP significantly reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 94.4%, selling 2,008 shares to own only 119 shares valued at $30,000.
• Major investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, increased their holdings in Ecolab during the first quarter, showcasing strong institutional interest in the company.
• Ecolab announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 to be paid on October 15th, with a current yield of 1.0%.

Quarry LP lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 94.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,008 shares during the period. Quarry LP's holdings in Ecolab were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 261,489 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during 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. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after buying an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during 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. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.64.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of ECL opened at $273.56 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.59 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 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.

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