Raiffeisen Bank International AG Has $68.73 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Raiffeisen Bank International AG reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 257,926 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 65,477 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.0% of Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Raiffeisen Bank International AG owned about 0.09% of Ecolab worth $68,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after purchasing an additional 261,489 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,469,019,000 after buying an additional 22,986 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $964,885,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,900,000 after acquiring an additional 27,619 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Erste Group Bank began coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE ECL opened at $258.38 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $73.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $268.76 and a 200-day moving average of $267.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ecolab

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.