Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,451 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.4% in the second quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 794,420 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $214,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares in the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $1,667,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 3,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This trade represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $261.14 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $266.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.99. The company has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 presently 41.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Company 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.