Venturi Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1,436.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,685 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 5,315 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in 3M by 1.1% during the third 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. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 1.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $521,596,000 after purchasing an additional 43,942 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of 3M by 14.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $173,336,000 after purchasing an additional 161,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 11,601.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,261,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $172,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,491 shares during 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 subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM opened at $150.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.31. The stock has a market cap of $81.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96. 3M has a 52 week low of $75.40 and a 52 week high of $155.00.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.38% 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.