Neuberger Berman Group LLC Has $47.37 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,146 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,580 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned 0.07% of Ecolab worth $47,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price target on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.67.

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Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.55 on Tuesday, hitting $238.07. The stock had a trading volume of 560,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,144,998. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $254.29 and a 200 day moving average of $249.00. 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 $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Ecolab 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.