Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 904 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,567 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in 3M were worth $3,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of 3M during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 3M by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 237,297 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its position in 3M by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total transaction of $1,010,438.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $734,564.70. This represents a 57.90 % 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. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Stock Down 2.5 %

MMM stock opened at $144.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $78.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.23. 3M has a 1-year low of $88.23 and a 1-year high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share 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 net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS 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 issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s payout ratio is 38.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MMM. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Company 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.