EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 46,202 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 46,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,872,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 0.5% in 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. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,422,340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,788,497,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110,472 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,883,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,069,468,000 after purchasing an additional 441,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 46,569 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2%

ECL opened at $281.91 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $243.15 and a 12 month high of $309.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $276.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.73.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michel D. Doukeris purchased 7,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $258.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,148,108. This trade represents a 1,345.49% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,866 shares of company stock worth $7,878,801. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.