St. Clair Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 5,077 3M (NYSE:MMM)

St. Clair Advisors LLC bought a new position in 3M (NYSE:MMM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,077 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MMM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of 3M by 78.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 40,029 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $5,167,000 after buying an additional 17,564 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 9,779 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,309 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 35.5% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,333 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,689 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 7,219 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other news, EVP Zoe L. Dickson sold 7,915 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of 3M in a report on Saturday, May 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 3M from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of 3M from $152.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $152.08.

3M Price Performance

3M stock traded down $4.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $149.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,661,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,986,107. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $96.76 and a fifty-two week high of $156.35. 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 company has a market cap of $80.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.83.

3M (NYSE:MMM - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.78 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. 3M's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.87%.

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.