Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,408 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $950,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $6,422,340,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 63.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,110,472 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 441,747 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $244,381,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,635,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,472,599,000 after acquiring an additional 46,569 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michel D. Doukeris bought 7,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $258.00 per share, with a total value of $1,999,500.00. Following the purchase, the director 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.56.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of ECL opened at $286.13 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 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The stock has a market cap of $80.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $278.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.70.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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. 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 revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors 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 (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

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.