State of Alaska Department of Revenue Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

State of Alaska Department of Revenue cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,249 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,025 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1,177.8% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1,375.0% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ECL. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $312.00 to $293.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $310.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ecolab from $294.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.44.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8%

ECL stock opened at $273.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $282.50 and its 200 day moving average is $273.76. The stock has a market cap of $77.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.02. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $229.39 and a 1-year high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 22.73%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 40.11%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total value of $6,147,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,907,351.78. This represents a 18.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total value of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,760.28. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.