3M (NYSE:MMM) Position Cut by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS reduced its stake in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,680 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,484 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in 3M were worth $2,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

3M Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:MMM opened at $150.11 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. 3M has a fifty-two week low of $75.40 and a fifty-two week high of $155.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $139.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.31. The stock has a market cap of $81.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.96.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released 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 return on equity of 100.77% and a net margin of 15.71%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share 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. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 3M’s payout ratio is currently 38.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of 3M stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin H. Rhodes sold 6,743 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.85, for a total value of $1,010,438.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $734,564.70. This trade represents a 57.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 in the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.