Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,183 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,189 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Ecolab by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,209 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,267,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 144.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $208,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 198,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $50,628,000 after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 22.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,632 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,268,000 after acquiring an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $2.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $264.47. The stock had a trading volume of 970,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,852. The firm has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $268.00. The company's 50 day moving average price is $244.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $247.34.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $284.33.

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.