Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,470,490 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,217,402 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.64% of 3M worth $448,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth $851,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in 3M by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after buying an additional 178,450 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its position in 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,511,000 after buying an additional 2,678 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in 3M in the fourth quarter worth about $816,000. Finally, Braun Stacey Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of 3M by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 142,596 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $18,408,000 after acquiring an additional 22,203 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In related news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total value of $7,553,775.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This trade represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. 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 note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.13.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $128.61 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.55. The company has a market cap of $69.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.01. 3M has a 12-month low of $90.17 and a 12-month high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm 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 revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.