Hodges Capital Management Inc. Acquires 17,239 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 97.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,853 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 17,239 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $4,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in 3M in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 increased its stake in shares of 3M by 2,466.7% during the third 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. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,329.15. This trade represents a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,889 shares of company stock valued at $16,893,561 over the last ninety days. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $152.26 on Monday. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.26. The company has a market capitalization of $82.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

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

3M Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

3M Company 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.