Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 455 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,128 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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 during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.29.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $272.34 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $273.83 and its 200 day moving average is $262.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $77.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued 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 company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

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.