Snider Financial Group Buys New Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Snider Financial Group purchased a new position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,918 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $712,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in 3M by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 88,912 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,373,000 after buying an additional 8,816 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 55.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 549,274 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $75,086,000 after buying an additional 195,191 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the third quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of 3M by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $173,336,000 after acquiring an additional 161,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MMM shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.87.

Insider Activity

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 1,645 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.25, for a total transaction of $247,161.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,153 shares in the company, valued at $774,238.25. This represents a 24.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Price Performance

Shares of 3M stock opened at $145.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.87. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $76.56 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $79.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

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.