Verity & Verity LLC Grows Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,908 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,980 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $7,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Options Solutions LLC increased its position in 3M by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Options Solutions LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management lifted its stake in 3M by 1.3% during the third quarter. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management now owns 5,977 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Madison Wealth Management lifted its stake in 3M by 1.3% during the third quarter. Madison Wealth Management now owns 6,086 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its stake in 3M by 0.3% during the second quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 29,677 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,840,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albert D Mason Inc. increased its position in 3M by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 2,392 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.61% of the company’s stock.

3M Stock Down 1.1 %

MMM stock opened at $103.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $114.23 and a 200-day moving average of $118.65. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $100.27 and a fifty-two week high of $154.66.

3M (NYSE:MMM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The conglomerate reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.06). 3M had a return on equity of 39.72% and a net margin of 16.88%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 8.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.49. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.82%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 59.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MMM shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on 3M from $124.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on 3M from $130.00 to $122.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on 3M from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on 3M from $113.00 to $106.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on 3M in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.92.

About 3M

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3M Co is a technology company, which manufactures industrial, safety, and consumer products. It operates through the following segments: Safety and Industrial, Transportation and Electronics, Health Care, Consumer, and Corporate and Unallocated. The Safety and Industrial segment consists of personal safety, industrial adhesives and tapes, abrasives, closure and masking systems, electrical markets, automotive aftermarket, and roofing granules.