Winslow Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,202,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217,856 shares during the quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC owned 0.42% of Ecolab worth $323,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $259.62 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The company has a market cap of $73.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $269.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its 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 fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 37.36%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.