SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,310 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its position in 3M by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 12,516 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,121 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 45.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its holdings in 3M by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 8,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total value of $1,010,438.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,902 shares in the company, valued at $734,564.70. This trade represents a 57.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $145.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $79.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $76.56 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.87. 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 (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The business’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MMM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target 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 assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

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.