Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Has $496,000 Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,839 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 320 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. James J. Burns & Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,235,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 151.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in 3M by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 8,050 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in 3M by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM opened at $149.90 on Friday. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $155.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $136.78 and its 200-day moving average is $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS 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 business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. 3M’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $27,550,308.50. This represents a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % 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 valued at $17,163,446. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company 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.