Asset Dedication LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Asset Dedication LLC reduced its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,295 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 803 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MMM. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of 3M by 7.5% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 151,763 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,509,000 after acquiring an additional 10,599 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 15.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 62,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,387,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 3M by 1.0% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in 3M by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 183,925 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,795,000 after buying an additional 17,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ariadne Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in 3M in the 2nd quarter valued at $245,000. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

3M Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $151.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $133.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.23. 3M has a twelve month low of $75.40 and a twelve month high of $152.96. The company has a market capitalization of $82.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. 3M had a net margin of 15.71% and a return on equity of 100.77%. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

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 value of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares in the company, valued at $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,291 shares of company stock worth $9,339,786 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a research report on Saturday, January 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

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.