Generali Investments Management Co LLC Invests $75,000 in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 584 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 16.2% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,004,000 after buying an additional 20,421 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after acquiring an additional 178,450 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 88.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at about $816,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MMM has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.13.

3M Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $153.20 on Thursday. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $85.62 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35. 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 simple moving average of $147.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.26. The company has a market cap of $83.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This trade represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.