Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Congress Asset Management Co.

06 Oct 2026, 23:21 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 434,723 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,241 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $119,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,988 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.9% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 59,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $618,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 23,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,415,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4%

ECL stock traded up $3.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $280.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,181,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,450,836. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.70, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.15 and a 52-week high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%.The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $342.00 to $344.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price 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 upped their price target on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.67.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Ecolab

About Ecolab

(Free Report)

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.