Electron Capital Partners LLC Acquires 30,861 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,039,113 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,861 shares during the quarter. 3M accounts for approximately 7.0% of Electron Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Electron Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $134,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,574,414 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,493,655,000 after acquiring an additional 280,048 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,752,944 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $871,738,000 after acquiring an additional 755,155 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in 3M by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,153,924 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $794,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,093 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in 3M by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,689,486 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $734,456,000 after purchasing an additional 479,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter worth $636,767,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MMM shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of 3M from $152.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 3M from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.00.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM stock opened at $137.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $74.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.01. 3M has a one year low of $91.56 and a one year high of $156.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $138.29. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. On average, analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.87%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % 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, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This represents a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently 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.