Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Bought by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 846,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,230 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $228,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,644,987,000 after buying an additional 250,980 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,469,019,000 after purchasing an additional 22,986 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% during the 1st 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 worth $964,885,000 after purchasing an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,900,000 after purchasing an additional 27,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:ECL opened at $275.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.