Wealthspire Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,020 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 409 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in 3M by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,194,612 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,717,503,000 after purchasing an additional 302,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,961,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,225,087,000 after buying an additional 4,212,409 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in 3M by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,815,625 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $521,596,000 after acquiring an additional 43,942 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in 3M by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,268,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $173,336,000 after acquiring an additional 161,036 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in 3M by 39.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,099,794 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $151,002,000 after acquiring an additional 308,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of 3M in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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 raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.87.

Insider Transactions at 3M

In other 3M news, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 49,598 shares of 3M stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.30, for a total transaction of $7,553,775.40. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 180,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,550,308.50. The trade was a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,736.32. The trade was a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

3M Stock Performance

MMM stock opened at $145.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.85. 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 has a 12-month low of $75.40 and a 12-month high of $155.00.

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

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is 38.68%.

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.