Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Acquires 9,323 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,480 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,323 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $11,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 5,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,951 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of 3M stock opened at $137.88 on Tuesday. 3M has a 12 month low of $91.56 and a 12 month high of $156.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $74.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.29.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.78 billion. On average, research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is presently 36.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M 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.