Guardian Partners Inc. Takes $295,000 Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 2,195 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of 3M by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $337,815,000 after acquiring an additional 898,244 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter worth $103,788,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in 3M by 179.0% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $112,107,000 after purchasing an additional 526,194 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 3M by 9.2% during the fourth 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. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

3M Stock Performance

MMM stock opened at $150.35 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.55. The company has a market capitalization of $81.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $85.62 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 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 analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M 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. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total transaction of $1,010,438.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $734,564.70. This represents a 57.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.