Arvest Trust Co. N A Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arvest Trust Co. N A cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,554 shares during the period. Arvest Trust Co. N A’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 626,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,195,000 after purchasing an additional 16,922 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $365,420,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its holdings in Ecolab by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 8,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Ecolab by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 822,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $163,157,000 after acquiring an additional 52,197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.73.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $253.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.29. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $253.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.