Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by MAI Capital Management

MAI Capital Management reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% in the first quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7%

ECL stock opened at $277.20 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The company has a market cap of $78.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $271.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.85.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $291.21.

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.