Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Position Trimmed by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 19.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,429 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $255.86 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $270.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04.

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.