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

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 94.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 38,476 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of ECL stock traded down $1.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $249.51. 1,043,628 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,160,950. The business has a 50 day moving average of $246.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was 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 worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.47.

About Ecolab

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.