Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 193 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA decreased its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,496 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in 3M were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MMM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 20,054 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in 3M by 119.7% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 13,040 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 7,105 shares during the period. All Season Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in 3M during the 4th quarter valued at $420,000. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its position in 3M by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 9,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 336,018 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $36,733,000 after purchasing an additional 6,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MMM. Argus raised shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of 3M from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of 3M from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 3M has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.57.

3M Price Performance

Shares of MMM stock traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $125.24. The company had a trading volume of 4,021,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,628,400. 3M has a 52-week low of $71.12 and a 52-week high of $128.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $104.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $68.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.95.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.25. 3M had a net margin of 3.08% and a return on equity of 112.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that 3M will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 24th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is presently -22.01%.

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.