Principal Securities Inc. Buys 5,195 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 76.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,022 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,195 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised 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 valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,690 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.8% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10,559 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Allan Corp increased its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 5,959 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In related news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

3M Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $148.85 on Wednesday. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00. The company has a market cap of $80.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.03.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lifted 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, February 1st. Melius raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

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.