Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 3,560 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 39.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its stake in Ecolab by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,684,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Ecolab by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,741,000 after acquiring an additional 19,324 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $312.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $335.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.53.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $250.65 per share, with a total value of $250,650.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. This trade represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,087,281.98. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $258.60 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $261.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $271.23. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Ecolab 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.