Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Acquired by Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 472.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,762 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $6,644,987,000 after buying an additional 250,980 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,469,019,000 after acquiring an additional 22,986 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in 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 worth $703,452,000 after purchasing an additional 90,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position 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 worth $674,497,000 after purchasing an additional 205,634 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $291.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This trade represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $268.85 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $263.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.88. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $76.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

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