Fred Alger Management LLC Increases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,379 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $248.95 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $188.32 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $251.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $244.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $70.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,348,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.