King Luther Capital Management Corp Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 908,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,391 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.1% of King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $244,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of ECL opened at $255.86 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.11. The company has a market cap of $72.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

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.