Apriem Advisors Buys Shares of 25,175 3M (NYSE:MMM)

by · The Markets Daily

Apriem Advisors bought a new stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,175 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $3,250,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its holdings in 3M by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 5,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,690 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MMM. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MMM

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM opened at $147.39 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $155.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.75 and a 200-day moving average of $135.09.

3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total value of $1,010,438.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,564.70. This trade represents a 57.90 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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