Man Group plc Sells 39,202 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Man Group plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 292,297 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 39,202 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.10% of Ecolab worth $68,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Redburn Atlantic lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $249.51 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $247.59. The company has a market capitalization of $70.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.81, a P/E/G 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 announced 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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