Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,747 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 6.9% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,691,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 10,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $913,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $337.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded down $3.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $271.56. 426,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,449,297. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The company has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $278.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab’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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and related services. The company helps businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations through specialized products, technologies, equipment and on-site expertise.

Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing solutions, water treatment and process-management systems, food safety programs, infection prevention products, pest elimination services and solutions for industrial operations. Ecolab serves customers in industries including hospitality, healthcare, food and beverage production, life sciences, manufacturing, energy, retail and institutional services.

The company was founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory and adopted the Ecolab name in 1986.