Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Purchases 6,369 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 44.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,685 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 6,369 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's holdings in 3M were worth $2,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in 3M by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,225,087,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212,409 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in 3M in the fourth quarter valued at $103,788,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,208,000. Parsifal Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of 3M by 179.0% in the third quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP now owns 820,094 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $112,107,000 after acquiring an additional 526,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of 3M by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,689,486 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $734,456,000 after purchasing an additional 479,621 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "underperform" rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price 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 increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.13.

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3M Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MMM traded up $2.75 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $150.29. The company had a trading volume of 4,196,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,322,430. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $145.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.53. The company has a market capitalization of $81.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. 3M has a 12-month low of $81.23 and a 12-month high of $156.35. 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 - Get Free Report) 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. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 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 1.94%. 3M's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 value of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $662,329.15. This represents a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446. Insiders own 0.38% of the company's stock.

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.