River Global Investors LLP Decreases Stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM)

River Global Investors LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 43.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,713 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,047 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in 3M were worth $996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MMM. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in 3M during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of 3M by 2,466.7% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 320 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 81.5% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 363 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MMM. Barclays boosted their price objective on 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 3M from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 180,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,550,308.50. This trade represents a 21.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 194 shares in the company, valued at $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

3M Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MMM opened at $146.36 on Friday. 3M has a 12-month low of $77.91 and a 12-month high of $156.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86. The company has a market cap of $79.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.17.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a boost from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.68%.

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.