Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,992 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in 3M by 16.2% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,004,000 after purchasing an additional 20,421 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after purchasing an additional 178,450 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 1.4% during 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. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 5,210 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of 3M stock opened at $144.87 on Friday. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00. The company has a market capitalization of $78.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $140.62 and a 200-day moving average of $134.56.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 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 value of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.