Golden State Equity Partners Purchases 8,898 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1,430.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,520 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 8,898 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in 3M were worth $1,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in 3M during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of 3M by 118.6% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 223 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of 3M by 2,466.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in 3M during the third quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total value of $7,553,775.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % 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, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,889 shares of company stock valued at $16,893,561. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MMM. Citigroup upped their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research 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, 3M presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE:MMM opened at $152.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.95. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $155.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.08. 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 announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. 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 37.09%.

About 3M

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.