Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Lowers Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 116,609 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 21,341 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $30,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,327,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,649,026,000 after buying an additional 137,578 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,860,283 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,013,557,000 after buying an additional 202,449 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Ecolab by 3.0% in 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. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Ecolab by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,718,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,857,000 after acquiring an additional 65,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,415,887 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $387,748,000 after acquiring an additional 11,661 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total transaction of $6,147,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,907,351.78. The trade was a 18.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $294.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $335.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.53.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $249.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $267.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $248.60 and a 12-month high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $70.12 billion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.51%.

About Ecolab

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.