Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 635,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 33,496 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.22% of Ecolab worth $173,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 39.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 22.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 61,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,674,000 after acquiring an additional 4,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3,211.9% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 81,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,943,000 after acquiring an additional 78,980 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total transaction of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,505,760.28. This trade represents a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total value of $6,147,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,907,351.78. The trade was a 18.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6%

Ecolab stock opened at $274.12 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $309.27. The stock has a market cap of $77.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.65, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $287.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $274.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $265.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.56.

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.