Arrow Financial Corp Has $726,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arrow Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 34.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,863 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Arrow Financial Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 15.6% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 104,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,405,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 19.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,467,000 after acquiring an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $3,257,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 20.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.46 on Monday, hitting $268.29. The company had a trading volume of 799,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,186,759. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $264.96 and a 200-day moving average of $254.44.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $288.33.

About Ecolab

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.