3M (NYSE:MMM) Shares Sold by Plancorp LLC

Plancorp LLC trimmed its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of 3M by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,013 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,404 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 737,531 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $100,820,000 after acquiring an additional 9,158 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,191,000. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 3M during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,754,000. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its position in shares of 3M by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 21,513 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,941,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on MMM shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of 3M in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at 3M

In other news, CAO Theresa E. Reinseth sold 2,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.95, for a total value of $346,234.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,329.15. This trade represents a 34.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Victoria Clarke sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 approximately $29,918.68. This represents a 90.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,639 shares of company stock worth $17,163,446 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

3M Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMM opened at $150.35 on Friday. 3M has a 1 year low of $85.62 and a 1 year high of $156.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $148.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.52. 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 firm has a market cap of $81.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.97.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The conglomerate reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 25.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that 3M will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from 3M’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 3M’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.