Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,197,687 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 320,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.13% of Ecolab worth $749,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 28.3% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,493 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,018 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,601,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 7,037.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 36,613 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,348,000 after purchasing an additional 36,100 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $289.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

NYSE ECL traded down $12.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $237.65. 2,594,535 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,133,760. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $256.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.15. The company has a market cap 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Company 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.