Tradewinds LLC. Sells 188 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Tradewinds LLC. lowered its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 188 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in 3M were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in 3M by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 925,534 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $119,477,000 after buying an additional 80,133 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of 3M by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,540,883 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $328,003,000 after acquiring an additional 533,753 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 230.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 307 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new position in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in 3M by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 614,438 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $79,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,918.68. This trade represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.13.

3M Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $147.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $79.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $149.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.49. 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 has a 52-week low of $89.54 and a 52-week high of $156.35.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.77 billion. 3M had a return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

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.