Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Patten & Patten Inc. TN

Patten & Patten Inc. TN trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 35.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,141 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,380 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,467,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 1,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $765,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $273.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $77.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $274.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.40. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

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). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday, October 6th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.29.

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.