Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC Takes $7.19 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 30,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $7,187,000. Ecolab comprises approximately 1.0% of Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,658,768,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $2.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $263.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 316,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,166,002. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $247.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.34. The company has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

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.