Grimes & Company Inc. Purchases 1,634 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. FMR LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 31.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 521,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $88,340,000 after buying an additional 125,800 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 4.1% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 135,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,036,000 after buying an additional 5,382 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $36,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 37.9% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,745 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 112,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,042,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

Ecolab stock traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $238.00. 1,806,035 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,723. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $245.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $233.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.56.

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.