HM Payson & Co. Has $3.12 Million Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,140 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 2,249 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in 3M were worth $3,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 2,466.7% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMM has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

3M Stock Performance

NYSE MMM opened at $146.36 on Friday. 3M has a 1 year low of $78.14 and a 1 year high of $156.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $79.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $144.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.23.

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. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

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.