ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Trims Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 74.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 100,788 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ECL. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 14,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Ecolab by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 17,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,068,000 after acquiring an additional 4,475 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 96.3% during the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 19,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,489,000 after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares during the last quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $501,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 289.6% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 59,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,058,000 after purchasing an additional 44,596 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $237.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $256.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $250.15.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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 expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.33.

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.