Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $300.08 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,280,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 75,192 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.45% of Ecolab worth $300,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $289.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

ECL stock traded down $12.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $237.65. 2,594,535 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,133,760. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.15.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.