Prospect Financial Services LLC Sells 741 Shares of 3M (NYSE:MMM)

Prospect Financial Services LLC reduced its position in 3M (NYSE:MMM) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,901 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 741 shares during the period. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in 3M were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MMM. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of 3M by 75.0% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 21,380 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 9,160 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in 3M by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 401,554 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $41,035,000 after buying an additional 11,368 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in 3M by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 151,763 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,509,000 after acquiring an additional 10,599 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in 3M by 15.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 62,500 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,387,000 after acquiring an additional 8,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of 3M by 80.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. now owns 4,094 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MMM. Melius Research upgraded 3M from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upgraded 3M from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of 3M from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $96.00 price target on shares of 3M in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of 3M from $142.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 3M presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christian T. Goralski, Jr. sold 6,318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.43, for a total transaction of $944,098.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $750,736.32. This trade represents a 55.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Michael F. Roman sold 45,276 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.01, for a total transaction of $6,791,852.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 175,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,359,457.18. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,903 shares of company stock valued at $8,082,186. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

3M Price Performance

3M stock opened at $151.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.41. 3M has a 52 week low of $75.40 and a 52 week high of $152.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $132.83 and a 200-day moving average of $129.55.

3M (NYSE:MMM) last issued its 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 the consensus estimate of $5,770,390 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 25.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that 3M will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

3M Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. 3M’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

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.