3M Company (NYSE:MMM) Shares Purchased by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of 3M Company (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) by 930.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,743 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 11,506 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in 3M were worth $1,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MMM. Alta Advisers Ltd grew its stake in 3M by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 2,622 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in 3M by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 9,967 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Beaton Management Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.9% in the first quarter. Beaton Management Co. Inc. now owns 10,925 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 3M by 2.3% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,329 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,014,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company's stock.

3M Stock Down 1.1%

MMM traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $152.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,182,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,804,709. 3M Company has a 1 year low of $98.26 and a 1 year high of $156.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average is $146.33 and its 200-day moving average is $143.41.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.11. 3M had a return on equity of 96.19% and a net margin of 17.79%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.78 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that 3M Company will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. 3M's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, EVP John Patrick Banovetz sold 7,759 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.37, for a total transaction of $1,151,202.83. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,654,663.64. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.02, for a total transaction of $1,179,493.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,127 shares in the company, valued at $913,045.54. This represents a 56.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on 3M from $141.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of 3M from $140.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 3M from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.83.

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.