Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Buys 138 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 65.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 10.1% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the first quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,905,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CMC Financial Group bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $284,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought 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 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $276.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $78.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $272.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $262.17. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS 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 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.