Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 281 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,710 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 281 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in 3M were worth $181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,080,578 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,320,649,000 after acquiring an additional 43,732 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of 3M in the fourth quarter worth $502,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 10.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,531,722 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,680,000 after acquiring an additional 435,439 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 1,273.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,783,726 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $413,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508,334 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of 3M by 313.8% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,650,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $289,803,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010,319 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $91.13 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on 3M from $78.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.17.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $103.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,609,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,328,505. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.17 billion, a PE ratio of -8.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.17, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.83. 3M has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $106.04.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The conglomerate reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.29. 3M had a positive return on equity of 95.80% and a negative net margin of 21.57%. The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.97 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that 3M will post 7.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s payout ratio is presently -22.01%.

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.