3M (NYSE:MMM) Position Reduced by Weatherly Asset Management L. P.

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lowered its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,246 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in 3M were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of 3M during the third quarter valued at $37,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in 3M by 89.9% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in 3M by 91.9% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new stake in 3M during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on 3M from $126.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on 3M from $118.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

Insider Activity

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total value of $39,328.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

3M Stock Performance

MMM traded down $0.97 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $92.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,750,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,752,146. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.43. The stock has a market cap of $50.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.29, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.02. 3M has a twelve month low of $71.12 and a twelve month high of $95.67.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. 3M had a negative net margin of 21.40% and a positive return on equity of 62.45%. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.51 dividend. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.56%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.82%.

3M 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.