Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 42,188 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

by · The Cerbat Gem

Schroder Investment Management Group trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 3.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,046,308 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42,188 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $281,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 198,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,389,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.2% during the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.4% in the second quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 25,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $847,544,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% in the second quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:ECL opened at $275.16 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on ECL

Ecolab Profile

(Free Report)

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ECL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report).