Winslow Capital Management LLC Has $323.92 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,202,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 217,856 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $323,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $259.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $268.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.36%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.