Financial Perspectives Inc Sells 593 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Financial Perspectives Inc cut its stake in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,261 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in 3M were worth $1,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in 3M by 89.9% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of 3M in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in 3M by 91.9% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 449 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel purchased a new stake in 3M in the third quarter worth about $44,000. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on 3M from $95.31 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on 3M from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of 3M from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 3M from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of 3M from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

Insider Activity at 3M

In other 3M news, insider Rodriguez Beatriz Karin Chavez sold 426 shares of 3M stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.32, for a total transaction of $39,328.32. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $366,141.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

3M Stock Performance

3M stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.00. 3,694,505 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,803,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.76. 3M has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $95.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.40.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.69 billion. 3M had a positive return on equity of 62.45% and a negative net margin of 21.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that 3M will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

3M Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.82%.

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.