National Pension Service Buys 253,623 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

National Pension Service boosted its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,521,626 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 253,623 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.28% of 3M worth $196,427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of 3M by 8.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 3,329 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 3M by 27.5% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of 3M in the third quarter valued at approximately $343,000. Finally, MBA Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 16.1% during the third quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 3,330 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $148.87.

3M Price Performance

MMM opened at $146.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.01. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $155.00. 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 $79.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. 3M’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In related news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, 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 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.