3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Mizuho Bank Ltd.

Mizuho Bank Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 460 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd.’s holdings in 3M were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MMM. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its stake in shares of 3M by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 5,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in 3M by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in 3M by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 3M by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,573 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MMM shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.13.

3M Stock Down 9.4 %

MMM stock opened at $126.62 on Friday. 3M has a one year low of $89.54 and a one year high of $156.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $149.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total transaction of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total value of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock valued at $17,163,446 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.