3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Purchased by Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 3M by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 223 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 2,466.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 3M by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Melius Research raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, January 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Up 1.3 %

MMM stock opened at $151.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $152.08.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5,770,390 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. 3M’s payout ratio is 37.09%.

Insider Activity

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 45,276 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.01, for a total value of $6,791,852.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 175,718 shares in the company, valued at $26,359,457.18. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,903 shares of company stock worth $8,082,186. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About 3M

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.