Larson Financial Group LLC Has $1.08 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Larson Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,680 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $749,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its position in Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, hitting $243.27. 839,363 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,168,498. The firm has a market cap of $69.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.90, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $245.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.44.

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.