Lakeside Advisors INC. Trims Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Lakeside Advisors INC. reduced its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 29,516 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 967 shares during the period. 3M accounts for approximately 2.5% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in 3M were worth $3,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in 3M by 2,466.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 3M by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total transaction of $1,010,438.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $734,564.70. This represents a 57.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.87.

3M Trading Down 0.7 %

3M stock opened at $149.08 on Friday. 3M has a 12-month low of $75.40 and a 12-month high of $155.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $80.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $140.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.41.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued 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 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is presently 38.68%.

About 3M

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.