California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 52,082 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 668,812 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 52,082 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.24% of Ecolab worth $180,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 247,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,618,000 after purchasing an additional 17,792 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 2,411.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 54,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,560,000 after purchasing an additional 51,887 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 16.0% in the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 44,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,091,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.0% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 2,497,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $674,497,000 after buying an additional 205,634 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $259.62 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $269.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

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.