Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Acquires 293 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,733 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 5,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $659,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MMM. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays increased their price target on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of MMM opened at $155.25 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $142.73 and a 200 day moving average of $135.42. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $155.50. The firm has a market cap of $84.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $734,564.70. This trade represents a 57.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last quarter. 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.