Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. 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 SEC.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $265.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $243.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.30, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $213.94 and a 1 year high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

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.