Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,540,883 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 533,753 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in 3M were worth $328,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in 3M in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in 3M in the third quarter worth $27,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 237,297 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Stock Up 1.5 %

MMM stock opened at $147.03 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1-year low of $88.23 and a 1-year high of $156.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.39.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.68%.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This trade represents 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 worth $17,163,446. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.