Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC Buys 4,044 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8,088.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,044 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,327,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,649,026,000 after acquiring an additional 137,578 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,635,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,472,599,000 after acquiring an additional 46,569 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,860,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,013,557,000 after acquiring an additional 202,449 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $880,506,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,159,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $591,535,000 after acquiring an additional 63,629 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.53.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,087,281.98. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. This represents a 4.13% 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.4%

ECL stock opened at $254.60 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $71.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $271.32.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.51%.

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.