LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Has $2.72 Million Stock Position in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 82.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,100 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 100,000 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Transactions at 3M

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 value of $944,098.74. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

3M Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE MMM opened at $155.25 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.56. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $155.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $84.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

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

About 3M

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.