Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,051 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 3M by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after purchasing an additional 302,900 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in 3M by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,689,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $734,456,000 after buying an additional 479,621 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in 3M by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in 3M by 14.5% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $173,336,000 after acquiring an additional 161,036 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $148.87.

3M Trading Up 2.1 %

3M stock opened at $150.48 on Friday. 3M has a one year low of $75.40 and a one year high of $155.00. The stock has a market cap of $81.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $142.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.20.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its 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. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. 3M’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

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.