AGF Management Ltd. Buys 3,479 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

by · The Cerbat Gem

AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM – Free Report) by 167.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,552 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in 3M were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in 3M by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,004,000 after acquiring an additional 20,421 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 26.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $816,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MMM. Barclays boosted their target price on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

Read Our Latest Report on 3M

3M Stock Performance

MMM opened at $150.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.82. 3M has a 52-week low of $85.62 and a 52-week high of $156.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About 3M

(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.

Further Reading

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