Neuberger Berman Group LLC Grows Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,701,813 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 341,968 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $219,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in 3M in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 230.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 81.5% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MMM. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of 3M 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at $27,550,308.50. The trade was a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,329.15. This trade represents a 34.33 % 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 worth $17,163,446 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $138.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $90.17 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35. The company has a market cap of $74.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.43.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS 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 $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

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.