Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 5,363 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 20.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,369 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,363 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 250,980 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 22,986 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted 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 valued at $964,885,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $847,544,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $689,154,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Ecolab from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $265.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $264.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.77. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $75.12 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 41.95%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.