AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 34,731 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Ecolab worth $45,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $255.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,099,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,681. The firm's fifty day moving average is $248.81 and its 200 day moving average is $247.73. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. 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.