Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by LJI Wealth Management LLC

LJI Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 785 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% in the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% in the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,606,000 after buying an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.92.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4%

ECL opened at $274.79 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a market cap of $77.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $274.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 34.71%.

About Ecolab

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.