Eastern Bank Has $50.60 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Eastern Bank reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,019 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank owned about 0.07% of Ecolab worth $50,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,644,987,000 after purchasing an additional 250,980 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,469,019,000 after buying an additional 22,986 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $847,544,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,610,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $703,452,000 after buying an additional 90,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ecolab from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $294.92.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $273.56 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $264.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm 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%.The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

Ecolab Company 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.