3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Bought by Opinicus Capital Inc.

Opinicus Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,282 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $553,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TFG Advisers LLC bought a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. BayBridge Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 11,244 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its stake in shares of 3M by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 3,451 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Realta Investment Advisors bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the 4th quarter worth approximately $352,000. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 3M by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,589 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total value of $1,010,438.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,564.70. This represents a 57.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

3M Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $149.90 on Friday. 3M has a 1 year low of $75.40 and a 1 year high of $155.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $136.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.21. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $81.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.96.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 firm’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. Analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MMM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

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.