Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Acquires 283 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,276 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in 3M were worth $15,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in 3M during the fourth quarter worth $636,767,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $337,815,000 after buying an additional 898,244 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of 3M by 321.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,097,747 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $141,708,000 after purchasing an additional 837,226 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in 3M during the 4th quarter worth $103,788,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in 3M by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,540,883 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $328,003,000 after acquiring an additional 533,753 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,918.68. The trade was a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total value of $7,553,775.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MMM. Barclays lifted their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, 3M presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $126.62 on Monday. 3M has a 1-year low of $90.17 and a 1-year high of $156.35. 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 cap of $68.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.58.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.68%.

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.