Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. Invests $2.51 Million in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM)

Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,062 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $2,506,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in 3M by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,898 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of 3M by 80.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,173 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 26,182 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,380,000 after buying an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. raised its position in 3M by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 4,547 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 766 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MMM. Citigroup upped their price target on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $164.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.33.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total value of $1,179,493.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,045.54. The trade was a 56.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total value of $1,151,202.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,654,663.64. This trade represents a 19.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM traded down $1.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $155.73. 2,401,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,802,883. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $148.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.02. 3M Company has a 52 week low of $100.87 and a 52 week high of $159.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.66.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 96.19% and a net margin of 17.79%. Sell-side analysts predict that 3M Company will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. 3M's payout ratio is presently 36.87%.

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.