3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Institute for Wealth Management LLC.

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lessened its holdings in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,954 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in 3M were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of 3M by 16.2% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 146,333 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,004,000 after purchasing an additional 20,421 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 845,401 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $114,770,000 after acquiring an additional 178,450 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its stake in shares of 3M by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 197,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,511,000 after acquiring an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 3M by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,217 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in 3M by 5.6% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 252,847 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,564,000 after purchasing an additional 13,473 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

3M Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of MMM stock opened at $152.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.54. 3M has a 1-year low of $75.40 and a 1-year high of $155.00.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that 3M will post 7.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

3M Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. 3M’s payout ratio is 37.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MMM shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective on shares of 3M in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on 3M from $105.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Melius Research raised 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 3M news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 5,024 shares in the company, valued at $750,736.32. This represents a 55.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,329.15. The trade was a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,889 shares of company stock worth $16,893,561. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.