IFP Advisors Inc Purchases 6,421 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 220.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,331 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 6,421 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 88.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after acquiring an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $82,208,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its stake in 3M by 179.0% during the 3rd quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $112,107,000 after purchasing an additional 526,194 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in 3M by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,099,794 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,002,000 after purchasing an additional 308,912 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in 3M by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after buying an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

3M Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE MMM opened at $147.39 on Thursday. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00. The company has a market capitalization of $80.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.98%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

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.