174,149 Shares in 3M (NYSE:MMM) Purchased by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 174,149 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $22,481,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in 3M by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after purchasing an additional 302,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in 3M by 1.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $521,596,000 after purchasing an additional 43,942 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its stake in 3M by 14.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $173,336,000 after purchasing an additional 161,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 11,601.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,261,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $172,416,000 after buying an additional 1,250,491 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE MMM opened at $149.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company has a market cap of $81.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $136.78 and a 200-day moving average of $132.21. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

3M Profile

3M Company provides diversified technology services in the United States and internationally. The company’s Safety and Industrial segment offers industrial abrasives and finishing for metalworking applications; autobody repair solutions; closure systems for personal hygiene products, masking, and packaging materials; electrical products and materials for construction and maintenance, power distribution, and electrical original equipment manufacturers; structural adhesives and tapes; respiratory, hearing, eye, and fall protection solutions; and natural and color-coated mineral granules for shingles.