Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $255.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $268.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.36 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab’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. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by 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.