Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Sells 1,426 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,546 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,426 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $258.76 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $271.15 and its 200 day moving average is $266.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.39 billion, a PE ratio of 37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. 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.

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. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

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.