Forsta AP Fonden Cuts Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its position in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 114,654 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,200 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in 3M were worth $14,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in 3M by 15.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 62,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,387,000 after purchasing an additional 8,220 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in 3M by 1.0% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,487 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in 3M by 10.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 183,925 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,795,000 after purchasing an additional 17,793 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 3M by 6.1% during the second quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,275 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in 3M during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Melius Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Melius raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $662,329.15. This trade represents a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 62,291 shares of company stock worth $9,339,786. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

3M Trading Up 0.1 %

3M stock opened at $151.55 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. 3M has a 52 week low of $75.40 and a 52 week high of $152.96. The company has a market capitalization of $82.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $133.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.23.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. 3M’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

3M Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

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.