3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Zullo Investment Group Inc.

Zullo Investment Group Inc. trimmed its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,505 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 494 shares during the quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in 3M in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of 3M during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 237,297 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 19,552 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 3M by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in 3M by 2,466.7% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 3M news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total transaction of $346,234.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.22, for a total value of $269,885.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of 3M from $162.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

3M Stock Performance

MMM opened at $150.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The firm has a market cap of $81.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.31. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $155.00.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

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.