Blair William & Co. IL Has $217.48 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 794,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,013 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.28% of Ecolab worth $217,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Ecolab by 64.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 878,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,676,000 after acquiring an additional 344,541 shares during the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 25.8% in the third quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 72,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,773,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 20.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,254,000 after purchasing an additional 11,322 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 162.4% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 597,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,744,000 after buying an additional 9,837 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total transaction of $6,147,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,907,351.78. This represents a 18.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.4%

ECL stock opened at $282.91 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $309.27. The company has a market capitalization of $79.77 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.91% and a return on equity of 22.73%. The business had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 40.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $265.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $294.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.56.

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.