Ecolab Inc. $ECL Holdings Decreased by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 497,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,835 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 0.9% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.18% of Ecolab worth $133,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ECL. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:ECL opened at $267.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.72, a PEG ratio of 2.74 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 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $272.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.32.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.