PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $36.57 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 135,706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,215 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $36,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares during the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4%

ECL stock opened at $261.98 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $74.20 billion, a PE ratio of 37.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.