Arvest Investments Inc. Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arvest Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 112,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,442,000 after purchasing an additional 10,035 shares during the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,140,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $867,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Ecolab by 306.5% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,297 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,056,000 after acquiring an additional 2,671 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $251.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $254.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.04. The company has a market capitalization of $71.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ECL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.