Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 136,139 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,300 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in 3M were worth $17,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 2,466.7% during 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 in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 81.5% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

MMM stock opened at $144.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $140.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.62. The stock has a market cap of $78.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $155.00. 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 (NYSE:MMM) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M 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.