PrairieView Partners LLC Raises Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

PrairieView Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 38,298 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the quarter. 3M makes up about 0.5% of PrairieView Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. PrairieView Partners LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $4,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MMM. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of 3M by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 11,690 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of 3M by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10,559 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Allan Corp grew its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 5,959 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MMM. Melius raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

NYSE MMM opened at $148.86 on Thursday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $137.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.41. The company has a market cap of $80.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $155.00.

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 company had revenue of $6.01 billion during 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 for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.09%.

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.