Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 38,476 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 94.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 38,476 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.78 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.61. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $71.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Profile

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.