Davis R M Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Davis R M Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,326 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,190,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,898,565,000 after purchasing an additional 527,902 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $847,544,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Ecolab by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,497,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $674,497,000 after acquiring an additional 205,634 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $327.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $325.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $265.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $324.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.56.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total value of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,505,760.28. This represents a 10.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $308.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $282.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.14. The stock has a market cap of $86.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.97. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

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.