J. Goldman & Co LP Purchases Shares of 125,405 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

J. Goldman & Co LP purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 125,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,939,000. Ecolab comprises approximately 0.9% of J. Goldman & Co LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $290.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.15 and a 1 year high of $309.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $277.24 and a 200 day moving average of $273.71. The company has a market cap of $81.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.93, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.88.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%.The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.19%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Michel D. Doukeris acquired 7,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $258.00 per share, with a total value of $1,999,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 8,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,108. The trade was a 1,345.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, August 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

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.