Legal & General Group Plc Sells 1,217,402 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,470,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 1,217,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.64% of 3M worth $448,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $636,767,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in 3M by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,468,549 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $576,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,619 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in 3M by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,511,095 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $337,815,000 after buying an additional 898,244 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in 3M by 321.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,097,747 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $141,708,000 after buying an additional 837,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter worth about $103,788,000. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other 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 value of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Tuesday. 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays reduced their target price on 3M from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.13.

3M Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MMM traded up $1.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $134.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,101,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,120,707. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.40. 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 $72.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.01. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $90.17 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The company's revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. 3M's dividend payout ratio is 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.