Boston Financial Mangement LLC Buys 400 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC increased its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,841 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. FMR LLC raised its stake in 3M by 88.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 3M by 11,601.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,261,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $172,416,000 after buying an additional 1,250,491 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in 3M in the third quarter worth about $82,208,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP grew its holdings in 3M by 179.0% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $112,107,000 after purchasing an additional 526,194 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in 3M by 39.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,099,794 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $151,002,000 after purchasing an additional 308,912 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

3M Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MMM opened at $149.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $80.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96. 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 50 day simple moving average of $140.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.41. 3M has a 12 month low of $75.40 and a 12 month high of $155.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the 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 owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is 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.