Arvest Investments Inc. Acquires 1,093 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arvest Investments Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 29.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,775 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised 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 valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,651 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,195 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $7.14 on Friday, hitting $263.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,221,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,174,711. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $252.41 and a 200-day moving average of $250.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab 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.