Findlay Park Partners LLP Sells 15,800 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Findlay Park Partners LLP cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 440,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 15,800 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $118,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $275.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.45. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $77.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.