Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Trims Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 956 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 5,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 49,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,442,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1,448.3% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,805,000 after purchasing an additional 23,173 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6%

ECL stock opened at $275.21 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.06 billion, a PE ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab 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.