Larson Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 26.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,416 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 15.6% during 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 buying an additional 754 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in Ecolab by 1.2% during 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 period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 19.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,467,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $3,257,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 7.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $268.54. 1,432,636 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,333,223. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $274.17. The stock has a market cap of $76.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $264.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.90.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ECL. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.33.

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.