63,845 Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Acquired by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 186.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 98,158 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,845 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up approximately 1.2% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $26,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $244,381,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,617,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,007,851,000 after purchasing an additional 51,712 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,412,057 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $641,609,000 after purchasing an additional 88,096 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Ecolab by 58.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,243,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $596,902,000 after purchasing an additional 830,726 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $288.52 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $280.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.53. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.15 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.87.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.50.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.