Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,479 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 104 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $3,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew 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 grew its stake in 3M by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in 3M by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,689,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $734,456,000 after purchasing an additional 479,621 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in 3M by 1.2% during 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 valued at $521,596,000 after purchasing an additional 43,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in 3M by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,577,045 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $461,761,000 after purchasing an additional 17,228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Price Performance

NYSE:MMM opened at $151.16 on Friday. 3M has a 12 month low of $85.62 and a 12 month high of $156.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The firm has a market cap of $82.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were 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 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the company’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 value of $7,553,775.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at $27,550,308.50. This represents a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’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 sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Company 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.