Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI Sells 2,390 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,770 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 2,390 shares during the quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI's holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $39,204,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $61,073,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,521 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $0.32 on Wednesday, hitting $268.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,153,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,400. The stock has a market cap of $76.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $262.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.61. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $287.00.

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.