Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Purchased by Freemont Management S.A.

Freemont Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 196.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,200 shares during the quarter. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,327,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,649,026,000 after buying an additional 137,578 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,860,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,013,557,000 after buying an additional 202,449 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,159,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $591,535,000 after buying an additional 63,629 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Ecolab by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,718,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,857,000 after buying an additional 65,836 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,415,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $387,748,000 after purchasing an additional 11,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ecolab from $330.00 to $325.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.53.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $249.58 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $268.59 and its 200-day moving average is $272.25. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $248.60 and a 12 month high of $309.27. The firm has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total value of $6,147,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,907,351.78. This represents a 18.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total transaction of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,760.28. This trade represents a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.